McCRADY TRAINING CENTER, S.C. – Traditionally focused on air base preparedness and recovery, emergency managers are stepping beyond the base fence line to train for new battlefield missions.
Fox EMBER, short for Emergency Management Battlefield Expeditionary Response training, raised the bar in its third year. Hosted by the 169th Civil Engineer Squadron’s emergency management flight, this joint training event took place June 20-29.
It brought together more than 30 Airmen from 12 Air National Guard and Air Reserve bases in 10 states and territories. These Airmen trained and completed the capstone exercise alongside U.S. Marine Reservists and South Carolina Air and Army National Guardsmen.
The 169th Civil Engineer Squadron emergency management flight pioneered this immersive training in 2023, aiming to replicate realistic wartime chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear, or CBRN, scenarios. The training hones critical skills and ensures readiness in a challenging joint environment.
Building on Fox EMBER’s previous success, the cadre leveraged the Army’s Battle Simulation Center at McCrady Training Center. Airmen entered a realistic digital battlefield to practice convoy operations, troop leadership and small-team tactics.
The joint environment provided a prime opportunity to field test new tactics, techniques and procedures, according to U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Jamie Powell, installation emergency manager with the 169th Civil Engineer Squadron and lead cadre for Fox EMBER.
“Our emergency managers are great at sampling and reconnaissance inside the borders of an air base,” Powell said. “Getting them outside those friendly confines for our new mission and in a joint environment is imperative. Few places can accommodate this level of training, and we are thankful for the combined resources of McEntire Joint National Guard Base and McCrady Training Center.”
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Robert Hales, an emergency management specialist with the 186th Civil Engineer Squadron, said, “For me, the best parts of Fox EMBER were working with the other services and the combat training.”
“Training like this alongside other units is critical to developing new capabilities like the Agile Combat Employment concept and refining our light, lean and agile mindset,” Hales said.
This year, Airmen focused on sharpening skills in five critical emergency management areas to enhance response capabilities: CBRN plotting, hazard identification, decontamination operations, physical and mental readiness and combat skills training.
On the capstone day, Marine Corps Reservists from the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion and Army National Guardsmen from the A/1-111th Aviation Unit conducted infiltration and exfiltration operations. These units transported Airmen to the battlefield to clear a contested site where they secured the area, identified potential chemical and biological laboratories, collected samples and coordinated exfiltration back to the tactical operations center.
“Fox EMBER allowed emergency managers from around the country to hone their capabilities in austere environments, allowing me to practice troop leadership as a junior enlisted Airman,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman David Calderon, an emergency management specialist with the 117th Civil Engineer Squadron.
Large-scale training events such as Fox EMBER offer critical opportunities for team building, networking and sharing best practices.
Senior Airman Humberto Mares Coll, an emergency management specialist with the 156th Civil Engineer Squadron, summarized the event.
“We brought together different services, cultures, mindsets and tactics to build something stronger than ourselves. That’s the real power of joint training and the heart of Fox EMBER,” Coll said.