ROK Army UAVs enhance combined training exercise

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Dana Hill
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Airmen from the 8th Civil Engineer Squadron and Soldiers from the Republic of Korea Army teamed up for combined nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) training here June 23 and 24.

The two-day training course presented the two forces with scenarios that required them to protect and sustain mission capability here. Training missions included NBC reconnaissance using an un-manned aerial vehicle recon system, main supply road decontamination, detailed equipment decontamination, and detailed troop decontamination.

"Our Korean allies are showing us their capabilities and how they will help us defend the base by decontaminating personal and equipment," said Capt. Delvin Ricks, 8th CES, readiness and emergency management flight officer.

"Today we are going to verify the biological agent collecting system, in case of wartime the 35th homeland reserve division is going to support USAF," said ROK Army Maj. (s) Park, Ki Chul from the ROK Army Chemical School War Fighting Experiment Center.

Captain Ricks said he now knows what to expect from the ROKA and what kind of support they can offer. The combined training session allowed the 8th CES Airmen to see the ROKA's procedures, provide recommendations for improvement and also learn what they have to offer.

"[We know] we can count on them, we know there capabilities and we know they are confident," he said.

This was the first time training with their allied counterparts for many of the Airmen and Soldiers. ROKA Cpl. Park, Chunyong ROK Army NBC Decon Team hopes to take part in future combined training opportunities.

"This training is pretty new to me...this is the first time that I have trained with the USAF," he said. "It's been a great opportunity to have an exercise with the ROKA and USAF. We would like to have more chances like this one."