00:00 [Gunshots]
00:01 -Unknown agent, no signal. Back in the building.
00:05 [Gunshots]
00:09 -Hey, hey, shoot me in the head!
00:11 -Put me down! -Down!
00:12 [Gunshots]
00:15 -Anybody back?
00:16 -These Air Force commandos are participating
00:19 in a training exercise
00:20 where they are apprehending an individual
00:22 who has opened fire on a makeshift village.
00:26 -Fox 2.
00:28 -Team 1, Fox 2 here.
00:31 -Moving in. -Moving in.
00:32 -They belong to a team known as DAGGR,
00:35 which stands for Deployed Aircraft
00:37 Ground Response Element.
00:40 It's an elite special operations security team
00:42 in the Air Force tasked with securing locations
00:46 on the ground from possible enemies,
00:48 surveying airfields for danger, and escorting VIPs.
00:53 -Think of it like an onion, right?
00:54 Security is in layers.
00:56 We are that outermost layer for whatever team or asset
01:00 is deemed needing security.
01:04 So we look out so others can look in.
01:06 [Gunshots]
01:08 -They did it. -Go.
01:09 [Gunshots]
01:12 -Last man. -Last man.
01:13 -Push, push, push, push. Go, go, go.
01:15 -DAGGR team members fall under the Air Commando umbrella.
01:19 -Air Commando is the nickname
01:21 for Air Force Special Operations Command.
01:23 It goes back to our lineage into Vietnam
01:25 and even preceding that into World War II.
01:27 -DAGGR members are a special class of commandos
01:30 that was created in 2007.
01:33 -The Air Force identified a security gap
01:35 or a lack of security
01:37 in the special operations community for the Air Force.
01:39 -DAGGRs often work in tandem with the Green Berets
01:42 or Navy SEALs when missions require security near airfields.
01:47 Unlike most Air Force airmen,
01:50 DAGGR members don't wear their last name on their uniform.
01:54 They are only identifiable by a three-digit number
01:56 that they wear on their chest plate and helmet.
01:59 This number is given to them at graduation
02:02 and goes in order from the first DAGGR member
02:05 to the most recent graduate.
02:07 -Since 2007, we have about 370 numbers right now.
02:11 I was given 363, graduated the class prior to this one.
02:15 -That's super cool. It's kind of like James Bond, right?
02:17 -Yes, sir.
02:20 -So today's exercise was simulating a 10-man DAGGR team
02:23 requested by Green Berets and Marine Corps
02:25 Special Reconnaissance.
02:27 -Today's training will require the DAGGR team
02:29 to enter a simulated village.
02:32 The team will split up to survey this area
02:35 for any potential threats.
02:37 But during this survey,
02:38 they will be met by enemy fire from an individual.
02:42 The teams will need to find the assailant and apprehend him.
02:46 Then they'll need to escort him to a secure location.
02:50 They'll be evaluated on how well they communicate
02:53 and their ability to complete the mission.
02:55 For the exercise, they split into two teams.
03:06 - Moving! - Move forward!
03:09 - Team one was gonna move into the village here behind me.
03:13 - Black bear. - Black bear!
03:16 - Push, push, push, push.
03:17 Go, go, go!
03:18 - Push, push, push.
03:20 - Going right?
03:22 - Going right?
03:23 - I got it.
03:24 - As team one pushed further into the mock village,
03:30 they became the target of shots fired
03:32 by the enemy they were looking to apprehend.
03:34 - Got a window, got a window!
03:36 - Team one was the team that took contact.
03:40 They called out distance, direction,
03:42 and description of the individual that was engaging them.
03:45 - Unknown agent, no signal, back at the building.
03:49 - As team one began receiving enemy contact,
03:53 team two began searching the buildings for the assailant.
03:56 - Team two did not receive contact,
03:58 and they were in the blind spot
03:59 of the individual engaging team one.
04:01 Obviously, we can't bypass potential threat areas,
04:05 so we cleared out the first building, which was team two one.
04:08 - Five minutes.
04:09 - In three, two, one.
04:10 - Team one, building two one is clear.
04:19 - Cleared out that building completely,
04:20 held rear security, and then once local support by fire
04:23 was established by our support by fire team, team one,
04:27 team two exited the outside of the building,
04:29 same entrance we came in.
04:30 So as soon as the building number was called out
04:32 where they were receiving contact from,
04:34 team two stood up, and they just went direct to threat.
04:38 - Hands, hands, show me your hands!
04:40 Put the gun down, down!
04:42 Put the gun down, gun down!
04:47 - Everybody back!
04:48 - We came in and pushed into the building
04:51 where the target was coming from,
04:52 where we challenged the individual,
04:53 apprehended the individual,
04:55 and then moved the individual from the property.
04:57 - Puck's here.
05:07 Team one, Puck's here.
05:09 Moving to you.
05:11 - We designated two guys to be the main point of contact
05:14 for the Puck.
05:15 As my role, I was just in the stack
05:18 performing the CQB, close quarter battle,
05:21 and things like that.
05:22 Typically we operate in like five-man teams,
05:24 so we kind of tried to simulate that here.
05:27 We like to train with those five-man teams
05:28 and kind of get to know how people do certain things,
05:31 and that way we can kind of just flow a lot better
05:33 into certain scenarios.
05:35 - After being apprehended, the assailant is relocated
05:40 to the building controlled by team one.
05:44 - It's a perishable skill.
05:45 It's one of those things, like,
05:46 it's not saying it's hard, not saying it's easy,
05:49 but it's definitely one of those things
05:51 that you train on, like shooting, for example, too,
05:53 like getting behind the weapons, things like that,
05:56 and getting proficient in perfecting your craft.
05:57 It's one of those things that we like to do,
05:59 and so it's just good to train on things like that.
06:02 - Last man, last man.
06:04 - That's good.
06:05 - You guys ready?
06:06 - Yeah, push, push, push.
06:07 - You're on.
06:08 - Push to the right, push to the right.
06:11 - We had guys working security operations
06:13 for SEAL teams in Africa.
06:15 We've had guys working convoys with Green Beret teams
06:19 in the Middle East.
06:20 We have a large breadth of experience across SOCOM,
06:23 or Special Operations Command, in its entirety,
06:27 and being such a small facet of it,
06:28 or a small support element to these big organizations,
06:32 we're often overlooked, obviously,
06:34 but we try to make the most impact where we can,
06:36 when we can, working with these individuals.
06:39 - But only a few have what it takes to join the unit.
06:42 - Becoming a Dagger member is not an easy task.
06:45 It's pretty daunting from the outside looking in.
06:47 Our attrition rate through our schoolhouse right now
06:49 is roughly 50%.
06:51 It is 11 weeks of every mission task
06:55 that we conduct in operational capacity.
06:57 It includes driving, TCCC,
06:59 it involves low-vis operations or covert operations,
07:02 with our tactical security detail,
07:04 all the way up to flyaway security,
07:06 and then you'll be pushed out to your gaining section,
07:09 whether it's cannon or it's hurlburt,
07:11 or our guard team out of the Harrisburg PA, the 193rd,
07:15 or our reserve team out of the 919th,
07:17 out of Duke Field, Florida,
07:18 and you'll be gained by your section.
07:21 You'll go through your on-the-job training,
07:22 which is roughly six months-ish,
07:24 before your in-house Dagger chief
07:27 or Dagger program manager at that respective section
07:29 blesses you off for deployment eligibility.
07:31 - So it's not easy to get--
07:33 - No. - To get to this point.
07:34 - No, it's not.
07:35 It's definitely not an easy facet to get into.
07:37 - Our program is a small program.
07:38 I mean, there's probably about maybe 100,
07:41 less than 100 actively performing
07:42 the Dagger mission right now.
07:44 - Show us moving the T2.
07:45 - I think in the ever-changing kinetic environment
07:52 that is today's world,
07:53 Dagger is gonna be more relevant than ever.
07:55 You can't do anything without security.
07:59 Building our name more into the special operations world
08:03 as the premier security asset
08:05 for Special Operations Command in a whole
08:07 is a daunting task and a tough task at that.
08:11 - Good.
08:11 (dramatic music)
08:14 (helicopter whirring)
08:17 (dramatic music)
08:20 (dramatic music)
08:23 (upbeat music)
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