JULY 31, 2026 – A 569th U.S. Forces Police Squadron patrolman barely settled behind the radio when reports began.
Routine status checks quickly turned into updates from the entry control point where a suspicious package redirected defenders across the training area at Kapaun Air Station, Germany, July 23. A drone spotted overhead and simulated casualties began reducing the number of airmen available to respond.
As opposing forces pressed the perimeter, every report passed through Air Force Senior Airman Rodney Richburg, the patrolman behind the radio, before moving to leadership. For Richburg, it was his first time serving as a radio telephone operator during a field training exercise; there wasn’t much time to think about what came next.
“The radio was basically my whole job while everybody else was shooting,” he said. “Patience is key. I had to gather the whole report of the situation before relaying it.”
Richburg was one of 14 defenders participating in the FTX that concluded two weeks of security forces level 100 instruction with the police squadron. Instructors layered scenario after scenario, pressuring airmen to apply classroom instruction while responding to an evolving defense of a simulated forward operating base throughout the day.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Kane Dew, the police squadron lead training instructor, said the goal was never to create a perfect exercise; it was to create an environment where airmen work together while managing competing priorities.
Instructors built the exercise around training injects to meet the objective — scripted events that involve threats and prime concerns changing without warning — all designed to complicate the battlefield.
“When we do our field training exercises, we’re just throwing inject after inject after inject to see how the defenders respond,” Dew said.
The pace left little room to separate one obligation from another. Richburg wasn’t watching the exercise unfold from a command post. He was carrying his rifle alongside the rest of his team and balancing his responsibilities on the ground with a constant flow of radio traffic.
He practiced gathering information, organizing reports and shifting attention to suspicious activity surrounding his patrol as new scenarios unfolded around him.
Moving through the training area’s forest, Richburg recognized how the fundamentals learned in the classroom came into play. Conditions changed faster than any lesson plan could predict.
Smoke bombs and flash grenades were detonated. Stressed airmen spoke fervently through the radio. Flashes of gunfire and bullets flew all around. Screams of simulated injured personnel attempting to apply tourniquets echoed throughout the mock battlefield, all while Richburg tried to stay calm and lead the team.
He now understood that communication was the foundation of every decision made on the field, as more of his team went down during the exercise.
He depended on his teammates to provide accurate data from the field before he could relay a report. Those same teammates also depended on him to organize information into clear pictures that leaders could act on, reinforcing that no defender succeeds alone.
“Communication is the No. 1 thing for mission success,” Dew said. “If you do not communicate, things get missed. When things get missed, people get injured.”
One defender’s observation became another defender’s focus, making transmission the thread connecting every position on the field.
“You have to trust the next person is going to have your back,” Richburg said. “Whether you’re clearing a room, calling in a medevac or standing at the gate, everybody has to do their job.”
By Air Force Airman 1st Class Paden Henry
Airlift Wing Public Affairs