Team Yokota stays current with Search and Recovery Training

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sean Martin
  • 374th Airlift WIng Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  The 374th Force Support Squadron recently held Search and Recovery Core Team Training at the FSS Training Institute for 14 Airmen at Yokota July 22.

The training was held to qualify more Airmen to become Search and Recovery Core Team members and to satisfy the annual training requirement.

The training consisted of briefings that gave Airmen information on what to do when they arrive at a crash site. They were then taken to a simulated crash site where they did area sweeps, and identified anything from body parts to equipment. The findings were tagged and placed in bags to be transported to the proper areas.

"The training today went great," said Master Sgt. Vikram Sachan, 374th Force Support Squadron mortuary affairs non-commissioned officer in charge. "It was a great way to learn and practice these skills for real-world situations."

Search and Recovery teams are responsible for going into a crash site and finding and collecting all body parts and equipment that is found. In real-world situations, the team cleans the incident area and sends their findings to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, to be properly taken care off.

The training is an annual requirement for the Core Team. This type of training is included in the bi-annual emergency exercises at Yokota.

"We can train anyone on search and recovery, which would be beneficial to us, because there are only 11 members on the actual team," said Sergeant Sachan. "They normally augment people to us, but they just get quick training, not the annual training."

According to Sergeant Sachan, he would like to see the training done on a much bigger scale next time. While the team hopes to never have to participate in a real-world scenario, it is very important that they are prepared for future exercises.

"I'm glad everybody showed up and did their part," said Sergeant Vikram. "I was very happy with that."