3rd Herd shares mission with chamber

Published March 19, 2009
By Howdy Stout
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- Parrying a bayonet thrust or holding a perimeter against attack aren't an ordinary Airman's skills. That is, unless you're a member of the 3rd Combat Communications Group.

Officers of the 3rd Herd briefed members of the Tinker Leadership Council on their unique skills and duties as part of ongoing efforts to keep community leaders informed about the units operating at Tinker Air Force Base. Consisting of business leaders from the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and senior Air Force officers at Tinker, the leadership council regularly visits different units on base.

"What we like to do is familiarize the community with what Tinker does, to promote understanding and support," explained Randy Young, director of military aviation and aerospace for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.

Tinker has a huge effect on the local economy, Mr. Young said, and the leadership council is a good way for business leaders in the community to see first-hand what happens at the base. Different units host the leadership council four times a year, giving commanders the chance to showcase units and facilities to the civilian community.

"If you think about it," Mr. Young said, "most people don't know what Tinker does." And what the 3rd Herd does is a little bit different, even by Air Force standards.

With the motto "Anytime, Anywhere," the unit can move at a moment's notice, arrive at a remote airfield, set-up communications, air traffic control, radio navigation beacons and then defend it all if necessary.

"Most people join the Air Force expecting to sit in a nice office," said Lt. Col. Alan Berry, deputy commanding officer of the 3rd CCG. "Combat communications is a little different. Our Airmen don't expect to do that."

To prepare for operations in potentially hostile environments, the 3rd Herd trains its own members using realistic scenario-based methods modeled on U.S. Army combat training programs. Airmen are taught combat fundamentals such as moving as a patrol, clearing unexploded ordnance and hand-to-hand combat.

"We're not rangers, we're not infantry," Colonel Berry said, "but we have to be a little more like that than the rest of the Air Force."

Most of the unit's equipment is packed and ready for loading on aircraft for quick deployment. Within 72 hours of arriving at a site, crews can have an operating tower, satellite radios and radio navigation beacons for aircraft -- in short, a fully-functioning airfield.

"Picture somebody doing that for your city in 72 hours or less," Colonel Berry said. "It's really something. And we do this all over the world."

Although assigned to deploy in wartime to Western Europe, South America or South Korea, components of the unit have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. They have also served closer to home, assisting with relief efforts after natural disasters.

Mobile teams convoyed to the Texas coast and Louisiana last year to establish satellite communications supporting relief operations after Hurricane Ike, said Capt. Nicholas Kuc, a flight commander with the 3rd Herd. The effort allowed the unit to do what they do best.

"We're very tactical," said Captain Kuc. "We go, set up, operate, then come back." Members of the unit also deployed to Peru last year as part of Operation New Horizon, the Department of Defense's annual goodwill humanitarian effort. "It was a big deal for us to be down there," Captain Kuc said.

Elements of the 3rd Herd also deployed to Iraq, operating near Ziggurat, site of the biblical Tower of Babel. Although the focus of the 3rd Herd is on mobility, operations in Iraq meant operating fixed communications at an existing facility.

"We do tactical communications, but we also have fixed communications as in Iraq," Captain Kuc said. "It just goes to show that the Herd is truly, 'Anytime, Anywhere.'"