KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Instructors from the 622nd Training Squadron at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, provided supplies and vital home-station readiness training for the 403rd Force Support Squadron’s personnel and sustainment services flights during the October Unit Training Assembly at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi.
In preparation for an upcoming 403rd Wing readiness exercise, the 403rd FSS needed to procure 575 meals ready to eat, and they needed them quickly. Chief Master Sgt. Latoya Patterson, the squadron’s senior enlisted leader and a former Silver Flag leader at Dobbins, reached out to her connections there to get the ball rolling.
“She made a call and said, ‘Hey, we need this many MRE's, but we need you guys to put in an expedited order for it, pack it up, put it on the pallet, and bring it here to us,’” said Senior Master Sgt. Monica Brown, 403rd FSS Military Personnel Flight Chief. “(Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino) and (Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin) said, ‘You got it, Chief.’”
Pino and Martin both instruct sustainment services and personnel Airmen throughout the Air Force Reserve on how to execute their missions from the ground up so they’re able to provide vital resources such as contingency lodging, personnel accountability, Personnel in Support of Contingency Operations, referred to as PERSCO, and field feeding operations in any environment.
Knowing this, Brown said they capitalized on Pino and Martin being at Keesler to deliver MREs and Unitized Group Rations (UGRs), and they set up training opportunities for 403rd FSS Airmen.
403rd FSS train to deploy
Staff Sgt. Teresa Watts, 403rd Force Support Squadron services flight member, sets up a Babington burner at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino and Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructors from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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403rd FSS train to deploy
Airman 1st Class Tia Plant, 403rd Force Support Squadron services member, disassembles a Babington burner to troubleshoot it at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino and Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructors from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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403rd FSS train to deploy
Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructor, guides Staff Sgt. Teresa Watts, 403rd Force Support Squadron services member, through the setup of a Babington burner at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Martin and Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino, also a 622nd Training Squadron instructor from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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403rd FSS train to deploy
A 403rd Force Support Squadron Airman replaces an air intake on a Babington burner at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino and Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructors from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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403rd FSS train to deploy
Staff Sgt. Teresa Watts, 403rd Force Support Squadron services flight member, sets up a Babington burner at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino and Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructors from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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403rd FSS train to deploy
Airman 1st Class Tia Plant, 403rd Force Support Squadron services member, disassembles a Babington burner to troubleshoot it at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino and Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructors from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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403rd FSS train to deploy
Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructor, guides Staff Sgt. Teresa Watts, 403rd Force Support Squadron services member, through the setup of a Babington burner at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Martin and Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino, also a 622nd Training Squadron instructor from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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403rd FSS train to deploy
A 403rd Force Support Squadron Airman replaces an air intake on a Babington burner at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino and Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructors from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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403rd FSS train to deploy
Staff Sgt. Teresa Watts, 403rd Force Support Squadron services flight member, sets up a Babington burner at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino and Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructors from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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403rd FSS train to deploy
Airman 1st Class Tia Plant, 403rd Force Support Squadron services member, disassembles a Babington burner to troubleshoot it at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino and Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructors from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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403rd FSS train to deploy
Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructor, guides Staff Sgt. Teresa Watts, 403rd Force Support Squadron services member, through the setup of a Babington burner at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Martin and Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino, also a 622nd Training Squadron instructor from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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403rd FSS train to deploy
A 403rd Force Support Squadron Airman replaces an air intake on a Babington burner at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Oct. 14, 2023. Master Sgt. Mauricio Pino and Tech. Sgt. Eugene Martin, 622nd Training Squadron instructors from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., traveled to Keesler to lead classes for the 403rd FSS Airmen on SPEK assembly and other functions valuable in a deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristen Pittman)
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“I trained on command and control, which is required for enlisted and officer 3Fs,” said Pino. “Sergeant Martin led a classroom and hands-on course on Babington burners, which are used with the Single Pallet Expeditionary Kitchens to heat water and food. On top of that, he closed with an accounting class which allows members to understand (Air Force) Form 79s and how to track inventory on the meals that they're going to be serving.”
Brown said that these courses are part of the mandatory home station readiness training requirements needed to be deployment-ready, and that while the squadron regularly completes mandatory training modules during UTA weekends, they couldn’t pass up having the experienced instructors lead the courses.
“It was very vital that they were able to provide that training to us while they were here,” she said. “We’re grateful that they have also offered to host us for four or five days of training so that we can knock out the rest of the modules and be ready when we’re called on.”