Silver Flag prepares Airmen for deployment Published March 20, 2007 By Airman 1st Class Ryan Ivacic 18th Wing Public Affairs KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- More than 100 Airmen from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, learned skills they will need to operate in a combat environment after completing the weeklong Silver Flag training exercise here March 16. Silver Flag provides expeditionary combat support training to Airmen in the civil engineer, personnel services, contracting and services career fields, preparing them for upcoming deployments to support the Global War on Terrorism. Detachment 1 of the 554th Red Horse Squadron at Kadena plays host to the course, which trains hundreds of Pacific Air Forces Airmen annually. One of Elmendorf's team chiefs called the training a "great force multiplier." "Our Airmen across nine Air Force specialty codes received world class training in preparation for their upcoming deployments," said Chief Master Sgt. Robert Orrill, the civil engineer team chief from Alaska. "Most of the assets and instructor level experience here at Silver Flag are not available at home station. Without a doubt we are ready, combat ready." A typical Silver Flag week begins with a team deploying into the Kadena Silver Flag site. Personnel specialists account for all Airmen, civil engineers bed down the team in small shelter tents, and services experts assign lodging and provide meals. MREs (meals-ready-to-eat) and A-rations or fresh food are the typical fare. Trainees attend job specific training throughout the week to hone their wartime skills. "Civil engineers will train on the structures and utility systems needed for a bare base bed down as well as the skills they will need to repair an airfield after attack," said Master Sgt. Jeffrey McDonald, Red Horse superintendent. "Services train on mortuary affairs, lodging and all field feeding platforms, while contracting and personnel services also train on their specific contingency tasks." The training week culminates with a 12-hour exercise where the deployed team puts everything they learned into action. "They get a runway full of craters and have to repair them while under constant mortar and missile attacks," said Sergeant McDonald. "They operate in an NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) environment while at the same time operating and maintaining the bare base infrastructure." Kadena's is one of three Silver Flag training sites in the Air Force. The other two are at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.