FAST ensures aircraft remain safe in austere conditions

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Carolyn Viss
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Traveling with aircraft to places where there are no local U.S. military personnel, special security members protect the planes until they return to home station.

The Fly Away Security Team, a group of eight security forces members from the wing here, were selected from squadrons at their home stations, trained at Fort Dix, N.J., and sent here on special assignment to protect resources for the Air Force and its members.

"It takes somebody who can work well with limited supervision; doesn't mind being in far away, remote places for long periods of time; is willing; and knows there could be times when they can go for days without coming in contact with anyone other than their team member(s)," said Tech. Sgt. Eric Gray, 379th Expeditionary Security Forces squadron FAST noncommissioned officer in charge.

Every day, this team comes in to work; ready to receive a mission and assign a team. The team leader knows when and where the mission will occur, and in a matter of hours the team goes to the armory to get their equipment and heads straight out to a C-130, C-20, or C-21 to fly throughout the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.

"Not every security forces member has the opportunity to go so many places. It makes you feel good to know you're doing something different and important," Sergeant Gray said.

The FAST was established only a few years ago, after two individuals were found hiding in an aircraft engine.

"It gives the aircraft commander and crew a sense of security knowing there's someone out there with the plane," said the NCOIC deployed from Pope Air Force Base, N.C.
From flying with humanitarian missions to accompanying distinguished visitors around the U.S. Air Forces Central area of responsibility, each FAST member is prepared to remain for days in unsecured environments, sleeping on the aircraft and sometimes "spending a few hungry nights."

"We were in Kenya once, providing security because it was an unsecured field," said 22-year-old Senior Airman Jose Rosario, a husband and father of three small children, deployed from RAF Mildenhall, England. "Kenyan militia members were passing by with AK-47s, and there was a moment I thought, 'Wow, if we weren't here they could possibly take over the aircraft.'"

They take their job seriously, Airman Rosario said.

"You have to be prepared for anything. It's not like you have 300 or 400 security forces members waiting somewhere who can come in and back you up," he said. "It's just you and your team. You have to have each other's backs."

In spite of some increased dangers, the team feels the reward of serving far outweighs any inconveniences or perils.

"I remember my first FAST mission," Airman Rosario said. "It was a human remains mission in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Seeing those coffins coming onto the plane and knowing we were there to help get them home with all the respect they deserve, was an honor."