PRT training

CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. -- Air Force Tech. Sgt. Carolyn McIlvaine, deployed from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., loads a pack horse during a training event near here. Members of Provincial Reconstruction Team Panjshir learned to ride and load horses as part of their pre-deployment training. McIlvaine and other members of PRT Panjshir, who are deployed from various Air Force bases and Army posts, are attending the training here in preparation to move forward to the Panjshir Province in Afghanistan. Once in Afghanistan, the team will spend almost a year promoting local governance in the region. (U.S. Air Force photo/Army Sgt. Matthew Ryan)

PRT training

CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. -- Air Force Staff Sgt. Teddy Rivera, deployed from the 78th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Robbins Air Force Base, Ga., rides a horse during a training event near here. Members of Provincial Reconstruction Team Panjshir learned to ride and load horses as part of their pre-deployment training. Rivera and other members of PRT Panjshir, who are deployed from various Air Force bases and Army posts, are attending the training here in preparation to move forward to the Panjshir Province in Afghanistan. Once in Afghanistan, the team will spend almost a year promoting local governance in the region. (U.S. Air Force photo/2nd Lt. Jason Adams)

Not your father's Air Force deployment training

Published Feb. 9, 2010
By 2nd Lt. Jason Smith
PRT Panjshir Public Affairs

CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. -- The traditional 90- or 180-day temporary duty assignments may seem a world away for Airmen attending today's Provincial Reconstruction Team pre-deployment training here.

Many PRT Panjshir Airmen have been in the Air Force for more than 10 years and can see a clear difference between this training and the deployment training, Airmen received prior to Sept. 11, 2001.

Some of the differences may seem obvious to outsiders. The most dramatic difference, according to some of the tenured Airmen of PRT Panjshir, is the training.

"We've had to learn to adapt to our sister services' environment," said Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Louk, a 14-year Air Force veteran deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, La. "We've modified our normal routines and thought processes to meet the training requirements."

The Camp Atterbury training lasts more than three months for most PRT members and much longer for others, depending on specific jobs. Airmen in these special joint expeditionary taskings can expect training seven-days-a-week with days lasting for 15 to 16 hours.

Some of the training events include counterinsurgency operations, stress weapons firing, improvised explosive device reaction training, combat lifesavers course, language training and horseback training.

"It's good to get horse riding training that we'll need down range," said Tech. Sgt. Chad James, deployed from Shaw AFB, S.C. "The trainers were really knowledgeable, and I had a great time."

The PRT facilities at Camp Atterbury are much different than the five-star hotel accommodations other branches often joke about the Air Force procuring. The officer and enlisted males of PRT Panjshir share an open-bay barracks with bunk beds, metal wall lockers and wooden foot lockers, just like the images of basic training in movies like "Full Metal Jacket."

"It's been a good experience to work with the Army in a deployed environment," said James. "We've had a lot of specialized combat PRT training tailored to our counterinsurgency mission."

According to many members of the team, the long training is worth the wait. Louk said it will all pay off once he arrives in the province.

"I'm excited to get to the Panjshir Province," said Louk. "I love being deployed and this unique mission allows me to have direct interaction with the people (that) I'm hoping to help.

"Adults are hard to change, but kids you can make an impression on," Louk continued. "I want one of the kids I make an impression on to tell his grandkids about the G.I . who brought electricity or fresh water to the area."

Following the training, PRT Panjshir will head directly to their deployed location: Forward Operating Base Lion.