An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

353rd SOSS exercises mission readiness on Futenma

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Nick Emerick
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Members of the 353rd Special Operations Support Squadron took part in a joint exercise with Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

This two-week drill prepared Air Commandos for upcoming operations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific theater.

“We’re doing an in-house communications exercise, in preparation for our upcoming deployment, where we supply our command and control wings with communication back and forth so leadership has the reach-back capabilities they need to support mission readiness,” said Capt. Ryan Barker, 353rd SOSS deputy communications flight commander. “We have to make sure everyone is ready at a moment’s notice, be it for an exercise, crisis or a deployment.”

According to Senior Airman Joshua Tanner, 353rd SOSS radio frequencies transmissions systems technician, pre-deployment exercises support mission readiness, but also build cohesiveness as a team.

“We’re ... out in the field with a bunch of different career fields here working together, being able to practice how we play,” Tanner said. “Every exercise -- if it’s here at Futenma or back at Kadena -- has a different challenge and another learning opportunity.”

The 353rd SOSS deploys in support of the special operations group, including the 320th Special Tactics Squadron and other flying missions.

Field exercises also allow the Air Force Special Operations Command Airmen to adapt and overcome potential issues they could encounter in a deployed environment but in the safe space of a training environment. Overcoming these issues in training exercises allows for a reduction in delay in real deployed environments.

“It’s a nice change of pace, going to a more high-speed environment with the special operations group,” said Barker. "It’s great being able to do these things in a joint environment."