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Show NEWS Hilltop Times July 19, 1991 eurn lorns to wion 7 Inlfl " i hiiii!rs V, by SSgt. Barbara Fisher Hilltop Times staff writer mirk: s A few short months ago SSgt. Paul Kerr and A1C Eric Hostetter, 2849th Security Police Squadron, were in the desert of the Middle East. They and their fellow security policemen spent long hot days and nights protecting Air Force aircraft and people from a very real enemy. Kerr and Hostetter even found themselves going on stealthy reconnaissance patrols looking for possible enemy snipers trying to get in close to the aircraft and people the two were charged with 4.. f Of V ; protecting. Back from the desert now for a couple months, the two haven't been relaxing. They've spent the last few weeks with TSgt. A.R. Jarvis, SSgt. Jeffrey Thoma, Sgt. Dennis Parks, SrA. Patrick A. Wise and A1C Brett Kinton working on improving their combat skills even more. The reason being they'll be facing what could be a tougher enemy for them fellow SPs in the annual Peacekeeper Challenge. Peacekeeper Challenge, the closest peacetime thing to combat security policemen can experience, is an annual event. It allows security policemen to compete in three types of events to measure marks- manship, physical conditioning and combat readiness. Marksmanship events include 9mm pistol, machine gun and rifle grenade launcher, training. Physical training events include an obstacle course and a 5K run. The final portion is called M-20- M-6- 0 3 M-1- 6 Defender Challenge, which is a combat scenario competition that has the team going out on a reconnaissance patrol like Kerr and Hostetter did during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Before going to the Air Force level of competition Eye on A1C Brett Kinton eyes his target as he practices his marksmanship with the 9mm hand gun. at Kirtland AFB, N.M., in September, the Hill AFB fects of live ammunition. When someone is shot during the competition, a beeping noise sounds letting everyone know there's been a hit or miss. "Edwards is flat with some hills," Jarvis said, "but there's absolutely no vegetation. It's all desert like, so you (or the enemy) can get a long, (clear) shot with the MILES gear." If Jarvis' team does have a weakness he'll admit, it's their running ability. "We're not real fast," he said. "We've got a lot of endurance but we're not really quick. We're physically fit, but we just don't have the speed." Jarvis, who's been involved in numerous Peacekeepers since they first started in 1981, said in past competitions some of the participants have been world-clas-s runners. That doesn't particularly bother his team, however. "Three-quarter- s of the competition is based on being able to fire the weapons anyway," he said. "The obstacle course and 5K are only two events. You have the pistol shoot, rifle shoot, machine gun shoot and Defender Challenge where you have to be able to fire a weapon accurately. We've worked more on our shooting abilities, so we should be able to do team must compete against SPs in the combined Air Force Logistics and Systems Commands Peacekeeper Challenge at Edwards AFB, Calif., next week. A combined AFLCSy stems Combe will mand team picked at Edwards from the 60 SPs there. Once picked, the command team will then train for approximately one month at Hill facilities. In getting ready for the command competition, Jarvis, the team captain, said his people have fired more than 50,000 rounds of ammunition since the team was formed in May and have run several miles a week, part of the time over obstacles that would er daunt the average person. They've also spent time out in the desolate areas of Camp Williams, an Army National Guard base near Point of the Mountain, wearing their battle e weapons like the gear, firing their and the They've also been using a map and and compass testing each other's alertness and combat savvy in their own versions of combat patrols. Jarvis said his team is ready for the upcoming competition and has a good chance at bringing home M-20- long-rang- M-1- 3 6. M-6- well." M-20- Jarvis, who's called the old man of the team at age 35, has a young team (they range in age from 18 to 27) that varies from airmen on their first enlistment to career members. Only the two participated in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. But no matter the confidence upfront before the event, Jarvis said all the base teams will be equal when the event starts. "(Peacekeeper) is a chance to get a lot of cops together and see how things are at different bases and see how you stack up against other people. When it comes down to it, (Peacekeeper) is basically just doing our job. "But, to be able to shoot and to see how we stack .up against other cops from around the world is kind of fun. We'll see what we wind up with." i-- in ', 1 - Si 3 v t- V- 4 m A step above Above, Hill's Peacekeeper Challenge team members traverse up the confidence climb as part of their training for the upcoming competition. Right, the Defender Challenge team of SSgts. Paul Kerr and Jeffrey Thoma, SrA. Patrick Wise and A1C Brett Kinton work their way across a field trying to avoid enemy fire as part of their training for the upcoming event. Photos by Ralph Leue the mark are probably our best "The 0 and the 3 bets for first place (finishes)," he said. "We have some of the most natural shooters I've ever seen." The land navigation portion of the event (Defender Challenge), where the team has to use a compass and map to patrol their area while under sniper fire, also shouldn't be a problem for the team, Jarvis said. "We're pretty confident on that," he said. "As far as knowing how to find a point on a map and getting to it, these guys have absolutely no problems whatsoever." What may give them problems, however, is the terrain at Edwards. During Defender Challenge, the participants use the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System. MILES laser "bullets" are capable of shooting coded impulses of infrared energy that simulate the ef 1 " U.S. Air Fore some medals. Jr Jrl 'VI t 1 4 ,. v 1f' V- ,. , ,vk, F |