Training the elite: TALCE package deploys with FBI

  • Published
  • By Amy Abbott
  • 452 AMW/PA
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  Beginning in the wee hours of the morning, the 452nd Tanker Airlift Control Element, along with the support of other elements on base, began a unique training operation. The code name was Patriot Palm. The mission was for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles Field Division, rapid deployment team, to conduct a counterterrorism, readiness alert deployment in order to field test the preparations and capabilities of their personnel and equipment. 

Approximately 40 special agents, 26 from the deployment team, loaded special vehicles and secured equipment and themselves into a KC-135 Stratotanker and C-17 Globemaster III from March Air Reserve Base and flew off to Oahu, Hawaii, to begin the four day training. 

"After the 1998 United States Embassy bombings in Africa, America realized that it needed an international team that could do accurate forensics," said Lt. Col. Harold "Buck" Kaplan, the 452nd TALCE Commander. "The FBI has extremely good forensics. We realized that we were not going to get the data we needed from our sister countries. We want accurate, very quick, actionable forensic data coming off those bomb sights, so these are the guys they tasked to do that." 

Four rapid deployment teams were created and assigned to the Air Force's Air Mobility Command affiliation program to train to deploy anywhere in the world in a moment's notice. In 2000, when the program was officially instituted, the 452nd TALCE was the first to step up and initiate the tasking, flying with a rapid deployment team to Alaska. 

"I keep telling them, 'I don't care if you're Navy SEAL or the NEST Team (Department of Energy's Nuclear Emergency Search Team) for nuclear terrorism; whatever, if you can't get to where you have to be, then you're worthless,'" said Senior Master Sgt. Charlie Brown, 452nd TALCE loadmaster supervisor. "And the only way you can get from point A to point B is to practice this stuff." 

As one of the members who flew on the first training mission to Alaska, Sergeant Brown witnessed firsthand the growth and progress that results from the training. 

"Every time we practice, it gets better and better," he said. "They keep taking it more and more seriously, even though they are incredibly busy and have a gazillion other things to do." 

In a real world situation, the Los Angeles Field Division rapid deployment team could be sent anywhere within the Asia/Pacific area. They would be required to securely relay, through video or telephone, forensic data to headquarters as accurately and quickly as possible. Operations like Patriot Palm not only train them on movement and load out procedures, but also allow them to exercise their communications, a vital function in the success of their mission. 

"Most agencies tend to simulate everything," said Sergeant Brown. "Simulate this, simulate that, we don't have time for this, we don't have the equipment for that - well, we don't simulate a (darn) thing." 

The scenario required movement to an area on the North side of Oahu, which was essentially a bare base camp and acted as the forward operating base. Upon arrival, the special agents set up tents with their equipment and communications. Another small contingent flew from Oahu to Hilo, Hawaii, to set up a secondary area. 

The two teams then exercised secure communications among themselves, the TALCE which was also positioned in Oahu and Hilo, as well as with their forward staging base in Guam and their headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

The result in flying away to another location and utilizing their equipment has garnered nothing but positive results according to the crews. It has allowed them to work out the kinks and find any shortcomings they may not have been aware of. On top of that, it also allows the two agencies to build rapport amongst each other, something that will be of great value if the exercise ever becomes a reality. 

"We build an esprit de corps and we form a liaison with these people that is pretty amazing and, to me, is a big part of the program," said Sergeant Brown. "We push, push, push them and they learn and come back and say, 'in all my years, I've never done something so realistic.' We try to have as much fun as we can with it but we beat them up and we 'what if' them to death. They love it." 

The training isn't all limited to the FBI. One of the reasons the 452nd TALCE is able obtain approval for the many missions they participate in is because, according to them, they make sure all participants get the biggest bang for their buck. 

"The March TALCE has historically been able to run exercises through AFRC airlift based on our training payback to our loadmasters and flyers," said Colonel Kaplan. "For years and years, we have been able to get airplanes and go train in a fashion that is Reserve friendly, super high intensity training that benefits all units involved. Everyone wins and that's just our culture."

That super high intensity training consists of a variety of scenarios designed to challenge and, ultimately, get the participants, military and outside agencies, to the peak level possible. 

"We're challenging ourselves," said Sergeant Brown. "We make it as hard on ourselves as possible and if we can do it with engines running, if we can build in air refueling on our way over and back, if we can land in the harshest conditions, if we can do it wearing night vision goggles and if we can do it with just about everything thrown at us -- then we feel confident and they do too." 

Hundreds of people were killed in the '98 embassy bombing that started the training like Patriot Palm. These exercises are built to challenge the participants in ways that far surpass basic requirements. Additionally, the troops from the 452nd also get the intense training too because, according to Colonel Kaplan, mediocrity is just not acceptable. 

"You do your regular operations and you become proficient," he said. "What do you do when you're getting operations instead of every six months, which is the book requirement, every three months or every two months? You start working on your finesse techniques, your top spin, your curve balls - the stuff that no one else can touch. I think that has been our secret of why we've been on top for such a long time." 

Patriot Palm had participants from March's 452nd and 752nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadrons, 50th and 56th Aerial Port Squadrons, 729th Airlift Squadron and 336th Air Refueling Squadron. Joint operations like this one are conducted on a regular basis with the FBI participating at least every other year.