Holding a fake pipe bomb, Staff Sgt. Jonathan Homer, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal expert with 35th Civil Engineer Squadron, Misawa Air Base, Japan, talks to Japan Air Self-Defense Force 3rd Air Wing guard and transportation troops about the different kinds of Improvised Explosive Devices during an exercise on Tuesday. (Jennifer H. Svan / S&S)
Holding a fake pipe bomb, Staff Sgt. Jonathan Homer, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal expert with 35th Civil Engineer Squadron, Misawa Air Base, Japan, talks to Japan Air Self-Defense Force 3rd Air Wing guard and transportation troops about the different kinds of Improvised Explosive Devices during an exercise on Tuesday. (Jennifer H. Svan / S&S)
JASDF guard and transportation troops from 3rd Air Wing, Misawa Air Base, Japan, detain a driver after finding an Improvised Explosive Device prop in his vehicle during the exercise. (Jennifer H. Svan / S&S)
A JASDF airmen at Misawa examines a fake pipe bomb during the exercise on Tuesday. (Jennifer H. Svan / S&S)
Capt. Cheryl May, installation anti-terrorism officer for 35th Security Forces Squadron, Misawa Air Base, helps secure a roadway during Tuesday's exercise. (Jennifer H. Svan / S&S)
Staff Sgt. Jonathan Homer, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal expert with 35th Civil Engineer Squadron at Misawa, holds fake dynamite during an Improvised Explosive Device discussion that was part of an exercise Tuesday between JASDF 3rd Air Wing guard and transportation troops and 35th Fighter Wing security forces. (Jennifer H. Svan / S&S)
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — The sudden barrage of what sounded like artillery fire as a car sped through the gate was loud enough to startle the bomb-sniffing dog but was just one of several exercise scenarios Tuesday, designed to bolster security at this northern Japan base.
Members of the 35th Fighter Wing and Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s 3rd Air Wing often train together at this joint fighter installation, most notably with their pilots and planes. But this week each wing’s security troops are joining for the first time to train on vehicle search procedures.
“In higher force-protection conditions, we may call upon JASDF to provide extra personnel to help support search operations at the gate,” said Capt. Cheryl May, installation antiterrorism officer, 35th Security Forces Squadron.
The training lets the two sides observe each other’s rules of engagement in an effort to streamline such procedures where possible, officials said. Operating by the same guidelines may ease confusion in a chaotic, potentially deadly situation where two languages are being spoken, May said.
Tuesday, U.S. security officials observed how JASDF personnel reacted to a vehicle running the gate. Maj. Joe Milner, 35th Security Forces Squadron commander, said JASDF troops follow a different procedure; they offer several verbal warnings and a warning shot before firing.
“We don’t authorize warning shots,” Milner said. “When you fire a bullet up, it’s got to come down somewhere; typically it’s not on the base. If you’re blowing through the gate, you’re considered a hostile person.
“We’re just kind of walking through some of the practical parts — ‘If this happens’ — what each side will bring to the fight,” he added.
Also for the training, U.S. explosive ordnance disposal experts planted fake improvised explosive devices on several exercise cars entering a gate near the JASDF hospital, then watched as JASDF guards and transportation troops, with their bomb- sniffing dog, searched the vehicles.
Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Hurley and Staff Sgt. Jonathan Homer later answered questions from JASDF about the IED props from a pipe bomb to a radiological dispersing device concealed in a briefcase.
They started to talk about WMD — or weapons of mass destruction — before JASDF’s translator explained that no, the question was about military working dogs — or “MWD” — and the chemicals they can smell.
Homer and Hurley could answer that, too: “They’re normally trained to detect nine types of explosives but every dog is different in their qualities and abilities,” they said.
The training was to delve further into IEDs and explosive detection training Wednesday. Though IEDs seem to be the weapon of choice in Iraq, May said, in Japan, “We’ve got to be ready for it. The more prepared we are, the harder the target we are.”
Also on tap Wednesday were combined vehicle searches at the base main gate and an antiterrorism “level one” briefing, translated into Japanese, for JASDF, Japanese National Police and Army and Air Force Exchange Service employees who don’t speak English, May said. Topics to be covered included the recent Russian school hostage incident and the Khobar Towers terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia. “Stuff to be aware of, how to report it,” May said.
