Security forces at Nellis AFB, Nev., have launched a new 45-day course to provide advance ground combat weapons and tactics instruction for active, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve security forces and chaplains who will take over Army operations at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, often working outside the wire to conduct area security operations. The 99th Ground Combat Training Squadron developed the course, dubbed Joint Base Balad training, and will conduct most of the training at Creech AFB, Nev., and the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, Calif. SMSgt. Lee Beausoleil, 99th GCTS operations superintendent, said that for the security forces career field, “this is the first doctrinal shift in 40 years since Operation Safe Side in Vietnam.” He noted that the course employs the “lessons from the latest enemy training tactics and procedures.” The 99th GCTS is the largest of Air Combat Command’s seven regional training centers for security forces and chaplains. Capt. Garland Wilmoth, squadron command, said, “What makes us unique from other regional training centers is that we are the equivalent to a ground dimension of Red Flag.” (Nellis report by SrA. Larry Reid Jr.)
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
