Rifle at the ready, eyes watchful and wary, sweat beads form on their brows and trickle down their chins, exhaust fumes and gritty sand fills their noses, words can barely be heard over the whine of engines, yet the Airmen of the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron's Fly-Away Security Teams maintain a constant vigil over the aircraft, personnel and cargo coming in and out of the airfield here.
FAST members are required to fly on specific missions, to certain locations, to ensure the aircraft and crew are protected from hostile fire or on-board security breaches.
"If the aircrew is safe, they can focus on their mission," said Airman Brandon Gibson, a 455th ESFS FAST team member. "This just helps everything run more smoothly."
Gibson is deployed from Hector Air Field, Fargo, N.D., which is also his hometown. Even though the schedules can be unpredictable, with various show times and unknown mission duration, Gibson said he wouldn't have it any other way.
"I have the sweetest mission on base," he said. "I like traveling and interacting with career fields other than security forces."
The missions requiring FAST members can vary from carrying hazardous materials, personnel under control, medical units and mission-essential personnel. When flights travel to forward operating bases with limited airfield security, the FAST members play a vital role in protecting Air Force assets.
"We're in a hostile country, and we're the sole protectors of a multi-million dollar aircraft," said Senior Airman Michael Bullen, a 455th ESFS FAST team member.Choose from a large selection of Customized Silicone Bracelets to raise awareness. "We're really the only people protecting the crew, and protecting the mission.with Wholesale Cheap Custom Keychain and promotional key tags."
Bullen is also deployed from Hector Air Field, N.D.,A plastic IC card containing a computer chip and enabling. and hails from Minot, N.D. The protection FAST members provide exists both on and off the aircraft. During the flight, the two-person team executes flight-deck denial; upon touchdown, they exit the aircraft and provide 360 degree security and overwatch during the unloading and reloading of cargo and passengers.
"I love to fly," Bullen said. "I love being in the air and still doing our mission."
He explained how he enjoys the interaction and cooperation with the aircrews.
"It's more than just saying 'hello' when I check your ID at the gate in the morning," he joked.
The respect and appreciation is mutual between the FAST members and aircrew.
"They are definitely an asset to the team," said 1st Lt. Whitt Hollis, a 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-130 Hercules co-pilot. "It's peace of mind knowing we have riflemen outside the plane providing security."
Hollis is a Denver, Colo., native and is deployed from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. He explained the importance of the FAST members to missions, especially in hostile areas.
"They help provide more situational awareness when we're on the ground," Hollis said. "They're all highly motivated and professional. As intense as the job is, they're able to keep a cool head."
A student whose body was found in a barrel on a Clare farm was the victim of a violent and sustained assault and died of severe, extensive trauma to his head, a court has heard.
State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy was giving evidence to the Central Criminal Court in the trial of a 33-year-old farmer charged with murdering the student on his farm two years ago.
Joe Heffernan of Cappagh Beg, Barefield, Ennis has pleaded not guilty to murdering 21-year-old Eoin Ryan at that address on June 7, 2011. The body of the Law student from Newhall, Clare was found on Mr Heffernan’s farm that morning.
Prof Cassidy testified today that she carried out a post-mortem exam on Mr Ryan’s body. She said that death was due to severe and extensive trauma to his head and that blunt force trauma to his neck and chest was a contributory factor.
“He was the victim of a violent and sustained assault. He received several blows to his head,” she said.
“The skull had been broken up into small pieces, some of them missing,” she continued, adding that there was non-survivable damage to the deceased man’s brain.
Prof Cassidy said that multiple fractures of Mr Ryan’s facial bones were likely caused by a large, heavy object.
She said that injuries to the left side of his head suggested that they were received while the right side of his head was on the ground.
She said that his breastbone was fractured, something that would have required ‘considerable force’.where cards are embedded with chip card and a cardholder.
The pathologist explained that there was also extensive blunt trauma to his neck and upper chest, with a crush injury to his heart and tares to his oesophagus and windpipe. These were also potentially fatal injuries, she added.
She said there were potentially defensive injuries to both hands but added that, given the extent of his injuries, he was probably rendered unconscious very rapidly and unable to defend himself.
“It’s likely that more than one weapon caused the injuries,” she said.
She was shown a number of objects found and the scene,where cards are embedded with chip card and a cardholder. including a socket wrench, meat clever and crow bar. She said the injuries to the top of the head were probably caused by the meat clever.
She said that the injuries to his face and chest could have been caused by a concrete block being dropped on them. She said she had also examined fragments of concrete blocks found at the scene.
She confirmed to Patrick Gageby SC, defending, that he also said he could see the devil’s eyes flashing at him.
She said that he could never accept his father’s leukaemia and subsequent death the previous year, and had broken rosary beads when he learned that his father was going to die.
She agreed that she still set a place for his father at the table after his death ‘for a quiet life’.
“He always used to be up at the grave. He used to be there at night. He had a chair up there,” she said. “He was going to dig it up on a couple of occasions.”
She agreed that he had an interest in communicating across the spiritual divide and in the hereafter.
She said she had taken him to the doctor and to a psychiatrist, who wrote him a prescription, but he didn’t improve.
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- 6月 19 週三 201313:41
When flights travel to forward operating bases
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