BUCKLEY SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. –
The Colorado Air National Guard’s 140th Force Support Squadron, 140th Wing, Buckley Space Force Base, Aurora, Colorado, participated in Home Station Readiness Training at Aviano Air Base, Italy, June 28-July 11, 2023.
The purpose of this training was to accomplish HSRT, which is required every 24 months for FSS members, preparing Airmen to perform their mission for future deployments.
“This deployment gave us an opportunity as a team to go off-site, do some team-building, focus on getting our training done, and connect with our Airmen outside of work,” 140th FSS Base Services Manager U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Leah Fishman said. “This is the first time in a long time that the 140th FSS has had an opportunity to award our people with a new perspective and unique training opportunity. Our Airmen deserve this quality training, in another country, where we can continue to strengthen our relationship as a team and network with two other units. This will enhance our skillset, while improving readiness and increase retention.”
The unit partnered with the 185th FSS, Iowa ANG while the 31st FSS at Aviano AB hosted.
“This temporary duty provided the squadron a great opportunity to sharpen our readiness training and proved we can do our mission in any location and not just in the comfort of our home base.” 140th FSS Commander U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Joseph Skufca said. “It fostered a great integration between our Active-Duty counterparts promoting unity, enhancing readiness, and ensuring a synchronized response to any challenge we may face, anytime or anywhere in the world.”
Airmen departed BSFS on a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker courtesy of the 185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa ANG.
The training consisted of classroom instruction including Command and Control, Force Bed-down, Shelters, Resource Management, Mortuary, Lodging, Laundry and Fitness, and Personnel training.
The 140th conducted a Search and Recovery exercise with the 31st. Over the July Fourth weekend, the 140th also helped the 31st set up for their holiday event. This large-scale celebration was open to local Italians, military members, civilians, and their families.
140th partnered with the 31st at Aviano AB to broaden their career field knowledge while embedding with the Active Duty so Airmen may learn and understand the operations of an Active-Duty base. Outside of the classroom, Airmen assisted Active-Duty personnel and learned from them in various work centers. After the exchange of knowledge, the 140th returned to Colorado with best practices that can be implemented at the 140th. This enabled Airmen to understand the complete Total Force construct and gave Active-Duty organizations an opportunity to understand more about the ANG.