Despite the 30-degree temperatures and their boots soaked with mud and water, Airmen with the 445th Security Forces Squadron conducted training drills April 2 during the unit training assembly, throwing on their body armor, grabbing a blue training weapon and heading out the door to practice group movements.

With their mission shifting to look at future battlefields, the Airmen of the 445th have begun seeing a change in training.

“Every month we are going to try to do something else,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Kaper, 445th SFS fire team leader. “We want to bring back things like combatives and start taking more trips to the Warfighter Training Center.”

The change Kaper spoke of is the service’s ability to gain air superiority over a peer adversary.

Kaper said the 445th SFS is trying to accomplish and expose Airmen to everything on their mission essential task list.

“It’s hard to do that as traditional reservists, but we’re out here today, and we will make the best of it,” he said.

The Airmen practiced skills such as maneuvers, fire teams, formations, cover and concealment, and critical thinking. Kaper said he believes it’s important they not only learn to react but understand how to plan a mission, identify their objectives and ensure they have the skillsets needed to survive and operate in a real-world scenario.

Once the training scenario was over, the defenders and their instructors dissected and digested what just occurred. They went over their strengths and areas which require improvement and walked away with a sense of self-assurance and fulfillment.

“A lot of today was refresher training, but it was nice to get out and actually do it,” said Airman Hayden Arnold, 445th SFS fire team member, who has been at the unit for around three years. “I am looking forward to some of the other training they have lined up for us.”

Kaper added they are following the cycle of reset, prepare, get ready to deploy and deploy.

“We’re currently in the preparation phase and we’re doing everything we can to be the most prepared for what’s to come,” Kaper explained. “This type of training will be leading us into the next fight that may be in front of us.”