Innovative Deployment Training to Employ Mission Ready Airmen Published April 30, 2024 By Corporal Jessica Roeder 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The 17th Logistics Readiness Squadron is leading the way in combat innovation and deployment readiness. The Installation Deployment and Readiness Cell developed the Expeditionary Readiness Training course to ensure deployment-eligible Airmen can adapt and support the ever-changing international operational climate. John Cox, 17th LRS IDRC installation deployment officer, arrived at Goodfellow Air Force Base in March 2021 and was tasked with ensuring that deployment-eligible Airmen had the necessary expeditionary training to maintain mission readiness. Goodfellow previously conducted a simplified version of the ERT program before COVID-19 called the Warrior Ancillary Specialized Training Program. However, Cox noted the need for WASP to evolve to keep a competitive edge over our near-peer adversaries. Innovative Deployment Training to Employ Mission Ready Airmen U.S. Air Force Airman James Salellas, 17th Training Wing Public Affairs specialist, simulates a casualty as members of his Expeditionary Readiness Training class approach after a simulated improvised explosive device explosion at the Installation Deployment Readiness Cell, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, April 12, 2024. ERT students must pay close attention throughout the scenario to properly complete each objective throughout the day. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jessica Roeder) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res Cox wants Airmen to understand the mission focus, expressing that Airmen are not just their career field, they are capable of doing much more. He and the IDRC team set two main goals: to re-establish a pre-deployment program and get every Airman trained a year before moving into the ready portion of their two-year Air Force Force Generation deployment cycle. With these two goals in mind, the IDRC team began to work on the Warrior Ancillary Specialized Training Program, basing the changes on the program's previous iterations and their personal deployment experiences. The resulting product was the Expeditionary Readiness Training program. Lt. Col Jose Quintanilla, 17th LRS commander, explains, “Goodfellow’s Expeditionary Readiness Exercise meets Combatant Command pre-deployment training in preparation to deploy within the new AFFORGEN model.” The program prepares Airmen for deployments with various computer-based trainings, briefs, hands-on training, range qualification and a culminating simulated field operation scenario, with scenarios ranging from possible diplomatic encounters to combat tactics implementation. The ERT program has been refined into a week-long course that follows roughly the same schedule for each class. There is some variation in the scheduling layout but the course ensures all of the necessary skills are taught. “Goodfellow’s ERT is a 5-day course designed to provide Ready Airman Training that incorporates Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear defense, Tactical Combat Casualty Care, Law of War, Combat Arms Training and Maintenance and Integrated Defense skills,” Quintanilla explained. Innovative Deployment Training to Employ Mission Ready Airmen U.S. Army student volunteer poses for a photo after being hit by a paintball to the face, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, April 12, 2024. During the simulated field operation portion of the Expeditionary Readiness Training course, students face off against an opposing force sourced from the tenant commands stationed on Goodfellow. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jessica Roeder) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res ERT has become a standout operation as a joint partnership as well. The IDRC coordinates with various units on Goodfellow to meet all the logistical and strategic needs of the ERT course. They work specifically with the Army to access the land used to execute the field operation exercises, and with the Marine Corps and Army to source the service members who operate as an opposing force during the training. Utilizing volunteers from these units, the IDRC can assemble a challenging and engaging operation for the ERT students to contend with. “We don't teach the scenario. We teach concepts, and how the participants apply those concepts to the scenario will determine how the scenario goes,” Cox explains. This allows the class to adapt and improvise as if in a real-life situation instead of a training exercise. Airmen are not guided through a rigid plan; they are given a baseline objective and told to execute. As the program has progressed, Quintanilla has been pleased with its development. The movement from the WASP to the current ERT course has been a long process that he has enjoyed watching occur. “ERT is designed to create Mission Ready Airmen with competencies that increase their lethality and survivability and enable our deployers to support Agile Combat Employment operations in a deployed environment,” stated Quintanilla. The Air Force prioritizes a mission-ready force, and Cox made a statement that rings true not just with ERT and Goodfellow but across the Air Force, “We are no longer the Air Force of the past.” He continued, “Airmen need to understand that they play a bigger role in the mission of the Air Force.” Quintanilla, Cox and the IDRC have made it their goal that every Airman that comes through their doors understands this. Innovative Deployment Training to Employ Mission Ready Airmen U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Josten Lacey, 17th Security Forces Squadron defender, delivers a briefing on the use of force for Expeditionary Readiness Training Course 24-7 at the Installation Deployment Readiness Cell, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, April 11, 2024. Students in the ERT course received instruction in numerous relevant topics, from the law of war and the use of force to current events going on around the world today. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jessica Roeder) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res Innovative Deployment Training to Employ Mission Ready Airmen U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Josten Lacey, 17th Security Forces Squadron unit deployment manager, demonstrates the proper defensive stance during baton combative instruction at the Installation Deployment Readiness Cell, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, April 11, 2024. A key part of the Expeditionary Readiness Training course is day four, where students are given tactical and combative instruction from security forces. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jessica Roeder) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res Innovative Deployment Training to Employ Mission Ready Airmen U.S. Air Force Capt. Valentin Lopez, 316th Training Squadron flight commander, engages in diplomatic communications with the simulated village leadership during the field operation portion of Expeditionary Readiness Training Course 24-7, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, April 12, 2024. Students in the ERT course are taught concepts rather than scenarios to ensure they can adapt to various situations in real-world scenarios. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jessica Roeder) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res Innovative Deployment Training to Employ Mission Ready Airmen Expeditionary Readiness Training Opposing Force volunteers fire paintballs while taking cover behind a car during the field operations exercise portion of ERT course 24-7, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, April 12, 2024. During the exercise, the OPFOR engaged with ERT students in various scenarios to assess the class’s concept retainment and execution capabilities. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jessica Roeder) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res