TACP Airmen Train With Pack Animals
by Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Taylor Walker April 25,
2020
Special warfare tactical air control party Airmen from the 124th
Air Support Operations Squadron in the 124th Fighter Wing,
participated in pack animal training on February 9, 2020 in Emmett,
Idaho.
TACP Airmen drove from Gowen Field to Youren
Outfitters in Emmett where hunting guides Harry and Matt Youren, and
J.D. Brock trained the Airmen to wrangle, saddle, pack, ride and
care for horses.
Special warfare tactical air control party Airmen from the 124th Air Support Operations Squadron participate in pack animal training
on February 9, 2020 in Emmett, Idaho. Pack animals, including horses, donkeys and mules, are utilized during missions where normal methods of transportation are restricted. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Taylor Walker)
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“We’re learning how to properly pack people and
equipment onto horses so that if we’re ever in a situation where we
can’t use normal methods of transportation, we can use the animals
to assist,” said Staff Sgt. Neil Mooney, a special warfare TACP
Airman and the NCO in charge of weapons and tactics from the 124th
ASOS.
Special warfare units may use horses, mules and
donkeys as substitutes for motorized vehicles in high mountain
terrain, dense jungles, deserts, the backcountry or other
environments that require units to move exclusively on foot. The
animals are capable of carrying significant cargo loads that include
items necessary to sustain the unit for an extended period of time,
such as food, water, first aid, radios and batteries.
“TACP
units are joint providers of precision strike capabilities, and as
the premier precision strike provider we have to be able to get in
and get out of anywhere in the world at any time,” said Mooney. “We
never know where we’re going to be until we’re there, and we never
know how we need to move until we’re in that situation.”
Mooney said the skills learned at Youren Outfitters are important
not only to the unit’s selection for a mission, but to their success
in a joint environment. Those skills can be put to use during
in-state missions as well.
“There’s a federal mission we
need to be prepared for, but there’s also a stateside potential that
we could be called up with immediate response authority to go into
the backcountry, and our members need to know how to get around with
available livestock in that situation,” Mooney said.
A special warfare tactical
air control party Airman from the 124th Air Support
Operations Squadron participates in pack animal training on
February 9, 2020 in Emmett, Idaho. Pack animals, including
horses, donkeys and mules, are utilized during missions
where normal methods of transportation are restricted. (U.S.
Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Taylor Walker)
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Although
this was the first local training of its kind for Airmen from the
124th ASOS, Tech. Sgt. Justin Clark, a TACP and delta flight
training NCOIC, said the unit accomplished its goal of becoming more
comfortable with the animals and learning the different systems
available to gather, pack and manage horses.
“The training
was also important for our community outreach goals,” said Clark.
“Not too many people know that Gowen Field exists, so we use
opportunities like this to build real partnerships with
organizations on and off base to help our career field evolve and
further the collective mission.”
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