Hostage scenario tests Luke response

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Phil Ventura
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  A passenger in an F-16 D-model decides to hijack an airplane mid-flight, forcing the pilot to land. 

Disgruntled, the technical sergeant begins making demands to authorities over the radio, keeping the pilot as his hostage. 

It's an incentive ride gone horribly wrong and it served as the major event during the wing's quarterly exercise week, which played out at Luke Aug. 21 through 25. 

Exercise week is run by the 56th Fighter Wing Inspector General's Exercise and Evaluations office. They spend months setting up scenarios for exercise week in order to test the wing's preparedness for local contingencies and compliance with Air Force and Air Education and Training Command mandates. 

While the IG office sets up the scenarios and does the appropriate paperwork at its conclusion, they don't perform the bulk of evaluations. That task falls on a select group of Airmen from across the base who, in addition to regular duties, serve on the exercise and evaluations team. 

"EET members are the subject-matter experts," said Master Sgt. Antonio Sanchez, 56th IG superintendent of wing inspections. "They're the ones evaluating their own folks and identifying findings for the final report." 

During the hijacking exercise, two EET members stood right next to the 56th Security Forces negotiator responding to the scene. As members of the Security Forces squadron themselves, they knew exactly which procedures the negotiator was following correctly and which needed improvement. 

The observations of EET members are reported as "commendables" to denote instances where a member did something especially great, or "findings," to identify areas that need improvement. 

The observations are compiled into a final report that is sent to AETC and the wing commander. Items identified as findings are explained and the corrective actions are outlined. This ensures valuable lessons are captured and hopefully the same mistake won't happen again. 

In addition to the hijacking scenario, the IG staff plans and performs a variety of other smaller exercise scenarios throughout the base during the week. This might include trying to make it through a gate with the improper identification card, gaining access into a secure area, or initiating a base-wide recall. 

On Tuesday night, at approximately 9:40, the hijacker, played by Tech. Sgt. Chad Warren, NCO in charge of exercise and evaluations, freed his hostage and gave himself up to 56th SFS. During the three-hour exercise dozens of Airmen were recalled to the base. Checklists were run, procedures tested and experience was gained. And for the 56th IG team, that's what it's all about.