AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy -- This week’s Wyvern Warrior Team of the Week is the 31st Fighter Wing’s Weapons Safety section.
This team manages a diverse program involving operations, planning, and construction activities for Aviano AB and five geographically separated units (GSUs). The safety of personnel and assets is this team’s number one priority.
“Our number one priority is the everyday safety that goes along with the explosives that we have here at Aviano, as well as our GSUs. Not only safety with the munitions and the people working with it, but also those around it in the community,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Breyana Anderson, 31st SEW weapons safety manager.
During the last three years, the weapons safety team has supported many exercises and operations. They deployed two personnel for oversight and risk mitigation at two remote locations; and supported the 555 Fighter Squadron, 510th Fighter Squadron, and Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 Air Tasking Order stories from their home station.
The team also performed site surveys to enable armed Agile Combat Employment while developing relationships with other nations to increase capabilities. The team helped Slovenia with NATO and U.S. explosive safety requirements and organized NATO training for Bulgarian Air Force munitions specialists.
Aside from supporting many different exercises and operations, the weapons safety team supports the 31st FW in other ways as well.
“We execute explosive safety duties and ensure the Wing is in compliance for storage of munitions, handling of munitions, and the placement of munitions,” said Gregg Czubik, 31st SEW chief of weapons safety. “We protect U.S. personnel, host nation personnel, both those working on base and those in the local area.”
“The individuals in the weapons safety team come from different realms of the weapons field and bring different knowledge to benefit the mission,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Huntington Johnson, 31st SEW weapons safety manager.
This award showcases the work the team puts in to ensure the safety of the 31st FW personnel and assets.
“It feels pretty good to win this award,” said Tech. Sgt. Timothy Herrell. “Weapons safety is a huge machine that normally runs in the background. Before I got to weapon safety, I didn't realize what they actually did, but we have a lot to do with any type of safety on the base.”