Page 7 - Desert Lightning News So. AZ Edition, June 2 2017

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Air Force Inns at D-M up for innkeeper award
Story and photo by Senior Airman ASHLEY STEFFEN
355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
The Air Force Inns at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base will be evalu- ated beginning June 8 for the annual Innkeeper Award.
The award program encourages innkeepers to improve their management and operation of lodging facilities at the 95 major Air Force bases worldwide. The competing bases are separated into two categories, large or small, based on lodging size.
“Out of 40 large Air Force Inns in the U.S. Air Force only four were selected and we are one of them,” said Senior Airman Joel Turner, 355th Force Support Squadron guest service representative.
D-M Air Force Inns has approximately 295 rooms for guests, com- plete with guest and housekeeping services.
“We treat our guests with pride ensuring they have a wonderful stay here,” Turner said.
The inns are judged on Air Force lodging standards, customer feedback surveys and in-person evaluations of the inns.
“Personally it is a validation of the hard work of the people of this operation do day-in-and-day-out,” said Daniel Baker, 355th FSS lodging general manager. “It’s that recognition for taking care of our customers to the best of our ability every day.”
The evaluation team arrives on June 7 and will depart June 10.
COMBAT
Airman Zachary Stratton and Cristina Byrd, 355th Force Support Squadron guest service representatives, confirm a reservation May 19 at the Air Force Inns at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The guest service desk takes reservations, checks guests in and out of lodging, and provides directions to new guests.
perishable personal defense system that can make every human being safer.”
To implement a strong foundation of Blauer’s system into future SERE training, a col- laborative effort was necessary among the SERE specialists to maintain and distribute
a uniform understanding of SPEAR.
“In the 23d Wing, we’ve got Nellis, D-M and Moody,” said Tech. Sgt. Nick, SERE special-
ist. “All the C-130 and HH-60 guys, and all the PJs within the 23d Wing — we all see the same people, so we’re all getting together to share the same information across the wing.” Currently, Modern Army and Special Operations Combatives Programs are adminis-
tered by SERE specialists.
“There are so many different combative programs in the military already,” Nick said.
“I did a lot of research and looked at what we were already teaching. In order to make this continuation training, I needed a system out there that builds upon what we already have. I saw his system, and it directly translated into what we teach.”
The practical application and versatility of the SPEAR System has gained much popu- larity among police, first-responders, and the military. Blauer has spent three decades researching real violence and has reverse-engineered a system of close quarters entirely based on how fear and danger can afflict tactical performance.
“We teach them how people move,” Blauer said. “Everything from the extreme close quarter is built on a premise determining that the bad guy controls the fight, the location, the level of violence and the duration of the fight, so I need to figure out how to beat him.
Tony Blauer, founder of Blauer Tactical Systems Inc., instructs Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape specialists during a weeklong Spontaneous Protection En- abling Accelerated Response System course at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Self- defense is a major component of support provided by SERE specialists to troops who have a high risk of isolation in theater, such as downed pilots and operators.
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This is a new paradigm in strategic thinking. It’s brain-based and allows the defender to be much more responsive.”
When the specialists weren’t executing drills on the mats, they were engaged in ana- lytical classroom discussions.
“Those real fights are completely different challenges, emotionally and psychologically, the duress is different, and then the movement patterns of the attacks are different,” Blauer said. “What we do is use body cam, helmet cam, dashboard video and closed circuit TV to study how real violence looks and moves. As valuable as martial arts are, the real fight is different. Our approach is to study the enemy and move from there.”
Upon the training’s conclusion, SERE specialists and other Guardian Angel counter- parts are now able to tailor a specific program for their customers across the Air Force.
“The most important lesson from this week is the realization that we’re all human weapon systems,” Blauer said. “Everybody knows how to fight, they just don’t know they know how to fight. Realize you don’t need a martial arts belt, you don’t need a level, you don’t need to win tournaments, you need to have the ‘I don’t want to die, I’m gonna fight’ mentality.”
Just before Blauer departed Davis-Monthan AFB, the course attendees presented him with a gift signifying their gratitude for a week of exclusive and in-depth instruction.
“I really appreciated Tony Blauer coming out here himself,” Nick said. “He’s the CEO of his company and he could have sent another trainer to come out here and train us — but the level of instruction, professionalism and customer service he provided was phenom- enal — I consider Tony a friend now.”
Air Force Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape specialists execute drills during a weeklong Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response System course at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Tony Blauer, founder of Blauer Tactical Systems Inc. and SPEAR coach, instructed SERE specialists and other Guardian Angel coun- terparts in order to qualify them to teach the SPEAR System to personnel across the Air Force.