MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- As Malmstrom Airmen prepare for the installation’s annual readiness exercise, units across the base are completing Ready Airman Training requirements designed to prepare them to operate in any environment, regardless of mission or location.
Ready Airman Training includes a range of foundational skills such as self-aid and buddy care, weapons familiarization, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense, small-unit movement, expeditionary mindset training and force protection fundamentals. Together, these requirements ensure Airmen can transition from their primary duties to operating in contested or austere environments.
One of those requirements – tactical combat casualty care – recently received a hands-on overhaul at Malmstrom thanks to the initiative by Senior Airman Alanis Zayas Diaz, a unit deployment manager with the 341st Force Support Squadron, who developed scenario-based training for more than 200 Airmen and Guardians from six squadrons and tenant unit detachments.
TCCC training is traditionally conducted in a classroom setting, but Zayas Diaz used her experience as a qualified instructor to design practical scenarios that required Airmen to apply life-saving skills under simulated operational stress. The training, conducted in three sessions between December and February, met Ready Airman Training refresher requirements while reinforcing combat-relevant decision-making.
“TCCC is one piece of a much larger readiness picture,” Zayas Diaz said. “Airmen are already completing weapons, CBRN and force protection training. This was about making sure the medical side of that preparation was just as practical.”
Zayas Diaz was praised by Senior Master Sgt. Stephane Beck, 341st Civil Engineer Squadron operations flight chief and primary planner of the upcoming exercise, for independently coordinating the training, recruiting volunteer role players, assembling equipment and creating realistic injury simulations using training-grade moulage.
“Senior Airman Zayas Diaz has done a great job with embracing the responsibility of being an instructor and coming up with a different way of delivering this essential training,” he said, adding that she is the highest-rated instructor based on trainee feedback. “She has been a huge help…and I consider her as one of my most valuable exercise planners!”
According to Col. Brian Low, commander of the 341st Mission Support Group, the annual mission support readiness exercise serves as a capstone event that brings together all elements of Ready Airman Training.
“This exercise is where everything comes together,” Low explained. “The skills Airmen train throughout the year – medical response, force protection, leadership under stress – are the same skills they’ll use anywhere in the Air Force.”
Low said the exercise deliberately places responsibility on junior leaders, particularly young noncommissioned officers and company-grade officers, who are expected to execute mission-type orders while adapting to limited resources and unexpected challenges introduced during the scenario.
“We are deliberately putting this exercise on the backs of young NCOs and CGOs,” he said. “We expect them to lead, make decisions and keep the mission moving, even when conditions aren’t ideal. This is how we build the leaders we need for the future.”
The exercise, scheduled for early June, is a five-day exercise involving primarily mission support group units, with support from security forces Airmen. The exercise evaluates how effectively Airmen apply Ready Airman Training skills while supporting the installation’s mission in a dynamic environment.
By improving one element of that preparation, Zayas Diaz’s initiative strengthened the overall readiness of Airmen participating in the readiness exercise and reinforced Malmstrom’s focus on training for the future force.
“This training isn’t just about one exercise,” she said. “It’s about preparing Airmen for whatever mission they’re asked to support next.”