Warriors unite, discover capabilities

Published March 24, 2025
By Samuel King Jr.

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- “Cover me while I move!”

A squad of service members and civilians yell to each other while pointing their M-4s toward the gunfire sounds from a tree line. This was the call of the warriors as they bounded back behind barriers and eventually out of the line of fire and to safety.

Everyone who took part in Team Eglin’s Warrior Day event March 14, found themselves in that scenario and responded not as individuals but as a team.

This year’s Warrior Day focused on readiness through team building and hands-on interactions with many of the warfighting capabilities operating on Eglin every day. The full day of activities began with a ruck march for 11 teams, with as many as 25 people in a group, containing a mix of Airmen, Soldiers and civilians.

"Most of these Warriors taking this challenge today will see and interact with Air Force missions they would never encounter otherwise,” said Chief Master Sgt. Adam Guest, 96th Test Wing command chief. “That is the intent of having a mission-ready focused Airman. We want to move beyond the idea training has to be accomplished via computer.”

Throughout the four-mile ruck march, teams encountered interactive stations covering security, maintenance, flight line and aircraft management and medical triage, to name a few. The scenarios each team participated in varied wildly to highlight a unique aspect of a specific mission. Warriors could be sprinting through smoke to find a bloody wingman, provide basic care and move the wounded to safety. At another station, teams would apply math skills to find weight balances for heavy vehicles scheduled for aircraft transport.

The maintenance mission played a large role in Warrior Day with four stations. Senior Airman Paige Bonincontri, 96th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron F-15 crew chief, said she enjoyed showing a bit of what the aircraft maintainer world is like to the Warrior teams.

“It’s quite different out here on the flight line,” she said. “I’m glad to get an opportunity to show what we do and everyone’s been eager to learn as well.”

At the end of the day, the teams shuffled back in for some well-earned rest, relaxation and barbecue. Brig. Gen. Mark Massaro, 96th Test Wing commander, rallied the Warriors upon their return and highlighted an important lesson of the experience.

"Readiness is much more than just one simple task, it's understanding that it takes all of us in a concerted, group effort to get our mission accomplished,” said the commander.