preparing for war...ssgt pratt vivekanandan uses the global positioning system to check elevation as...

AIR FORCE CIVIL ENGINEER 1

PreparingPreparingPreparingPreparingPreparingfor Wfor Wfor Wfor Wfor WARARARARAR

PreparingPreparingPreparingPreparingPreparingfor Wfor Wfor Wfor Wfor WARARARARAR

2 SPRING 2003

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Maj Gen Earnest O. Robbins II

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Thank You and FarewellPublication of this issue of our magazine coincides with the end of my Air Force

career and my tenure as The Air Force Civil Engineer. While I won�t go so far as to saythe past (almost) 34 years have flown by, I can honestly say they�ve gone faster than I, oranyone, could imagine. When I first came on active duty as a second lieutenant at Wright-Patterson AFB in 1969, I could never have dreamed how my life and my career wouldplay out. At that point in time, such a dream would have been more correctly categorizedas fantasy.

But now here I am, ready, and in fact eager, to make the move onto the �USAFRetired� list. My greatest regret is that I have never been able to personally thank all thetens of thousands of officers, NCOs, airmen and civilians who�ve worked so hard toensure we Civil Engineers always come through for our Air Force. No matter how toughthe job, how short-handed we are, or how bad the funding situation has been, we deliver!

As a result of our efforts, commanders have been able to go about �Job One� �projecting airpower whenever and wherever needed in our nation�s interest. Meanwhile,we have made Air Force installations the absolute best in the Department of Defense interms of quality of life for our people, functionality for the workforce and appearance.Our fire protection professionals, EOD specialists and readiness experts are absolutelyworld class and provide unmatched safety and emergency response capabilities for ourpeople wherever the Air Force operates.

While all my years in blue have been interesting and exciting, I must categorize thesepast four years as extraordinary, not just for me, but for our Air Force in general and forCivil Engineers in particular. Despite incredible stresses on the personal and professionallives of our people as we�ve spread our �footprint� across the globe, we�ve continued withthe same dedication, perseverance and can-do attitude I first saw way back in 1969. Mypride in our career field is based not on the breadth and depth of the programs we run oron the size of the budgets we manage, but on the quality of the products and services wedeliver and, most importantly, on the talent and enthusiasm of those within our CivilEngineering family. Because I�m confident in the officers, NCOs, airmen and civiliansserving in Civil Engineer squadrons and on headquarters staffs at every level, I have nodoubt this tradition of commitment to excellence and selfless service will continue longafter I�m gone.

I wish I could look each one of you in the eye, shake your hand and say thank you,but that�s impossible. So please accept this as my �Thanks� and sincerest wish for yoursafety and well-being as you continue to be essential members of the world�s greatest Airand Space Force.


DepartmentsDepartments

CE Goes to WARBefore the war in Iraq could begin,the groundwork was laid by AirForce civil engineers deployed toSouthwest and South Central Asia �including a team from the 819th/219th RED HORSE Squadron thatcompleted a massive airfield projectnear the Arabian Gulf, and a teamfrom the 49th Materiel MaintenanceSquadron that erected portableshelters for B-2 bombers.

13 Interview

20 Education & Training

26 CE World

29 CE People

35 Unit Spotlight

4

The Civil EngineerMaj Gen Earnest O. Robbins II

Air Force Civil Engineer • Spring 03 • Volume 11, Number 1

AFCESA CommanderCol Bruce R. Barthold

Air Force Civil Engineer is published quarterly as a funded newspaper by the Professional Communications staff at the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency, Tyndall AFB, FL. This publication serves the Office of The Civil

Engineer, HQ U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. Readers may submit articles, photographs and art work. Suggestions and criticisms are welcomed. All photos are U.S. Air Force, unless otherwise noted. Contents of Air Force

Civil Engineer are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Defense Department or the Department of the Air Force. Editorial office: Air Force Civil Engineer, AFCESA/PCT, 139 Barnes

Drive Suite 1, Tyndall AFB, FL, 32403-5319, Telephone (850) 283-6242, DSN 523-6242, FAX (850) 283-6499, and e-mail: [email protected]. All submissions will be edited to conform to standards set forth in Air Force

Instruction 35-301 and The Associated Press Stylebook. Air Force Civil Engineer is accessible on the Internet on AFCESA’s home page: http://www.afcesa.af.mil.

Chief, ProfessionalCommunications

Lois Walker

EditorLetha Cozart

Graphic Designer–Layout EditorJames Cline, Jr.

Please send story ideas, articles,photos, comments and suggestions to

[email protected]

The Road to RevitalizingAir Force Utility SystemInfrastructureUtilities revitalization � where it�s been,where it is now, and where it�s headed.

16

On the cover �SSgt Pratt Vivekanandan uses the GlobalPositioning System to check elevation asMSgt Larry Lenneman, structuralsuperintendent, and SrA Tom Phelps,structural craftsman, ensure a runwaylight is aligned properly at a forwarddeployed location in November. All arefrom the 819th/219th Expeditionary REDHORSE Squadron. Story page 5. (Photoby TSgt Deb Alvarado)

Farewell, BossA pictorial tribute to retiringMaj Gen Earnest O. Robbins II,The Civil Engineer.

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5 �RED HORSE Triumphswith Technology

6 �At the Tip of the Spear9 �A Stealth Beddown

11 �RED HORSE Takesto the Sky

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As this issue of Air Force CivilEngineer prepared to go to press, theUnited States went to war with Iraq.

Operation IRAQI FREEDOM beganMarch 19, but a good portion of thegroundwork was laid months ago by AirForce civil engineers who prepared basesthroughout the theater, set up bare basecamps, evaluated airfield pavements tosecure flight operations, and performedmyriad tasks to support future operations.

As of mid-March, more than 2,600Air Force civil engineers were deployedto Southwest and South Central Asia,supporting 18 air and space expeditionaryunits on 23 bases in 11 countries. Someof those bases had been in operation sinceOctober 2001.

Prime BEEF troops were busyperforming beddown operations forincoming missions, erecting structures tohouse a multitude of functions andmaintaining airfield lighting and aircraftarresting systems. They were performingday-to-day base support functions such aspower production and providing electricalservice, fire protection and explosiveordnance disposal, as well as specializedfunctions such as nuclear, biological, andchemical defense.

RED HORSE operations in theaterwere coordinated by the 1st Expedition-ary RED HORSE Group. Threedifferent RED HORSE units, the 823rdExpeditionary RED HORSE Squadron,the 819th/219th ERHS and the 307thERHS, were involved in construction atfour bases in theater in mid-March,committed against millions of dollars inconstruction projects.

A valuable force multiplier sawextensive use during the buildup. AFCAP,the Air Force Contract AugmentationProgram, allowed engineers to use contin-gency contracting authority to more easilyprocure materiel and specialized servicessuch as heavy equipment, constructionmaterials, engineering and geotechnicalexpertise, and other resources necessary toaccommodate and sustain operations. Bymid-March, AFCAP had been used torespond to more than 100 task orderstotaling $446 million.

�Our ability to lease equipment andvehicles and obtain contract support fromsuppliers in the region gives us greatlatitude when deploying,� said ColJosuelito Worrell, contingency supportdirector, Air Force Civil Engineer SupportAgency, �and it frees up our civil engi-neers so they can focus on their corecompetencies.�

As the operation continues, AFCAPwill continue to be used to providenoncombatant support, including humani-tarian missions, Worrell said.

This issue of AFCE contains severalstories highlighting the work civil engi-neers have done behind the scenes toprepare for the conflict we�re nowsupporting. There is no way to predicthow long the operation will last, but it�seasy to predict that civil engineers willcontinue to lead the way long after thehostilities have ended. (AFCE staff report)

4 SPRING 2003

Air Force civil engineersperformed a myriad of tasks toprepare for operations in Iraq.

(DOD photos)

Just two short years ago a small group of personnelfrom three RED HORSE units began planning thelargest and most complicated military construction effortever undertaken in RED HORSE�s 37-year history.Then, Operation ENDURING FREEDOM energized manynew heavy construction requirements, placing the $18million rehabilitation of the airfield at a forward de-ployed location solely on the shoulders of the 819th/219th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadron fromMalmstrom Air Force Base, MT. The massive undertak-ing was driven by an approximately 2,000-foot section offailed asphalt on the runway and parallel taxiway at thisdeployed operating location. The airfield flooded with

even small amounts of rain, and pilots had to weave through the1.5-foot vertical depressions while taxiing.

The 819th/219th ERHS jumped into action and mobilizedby moving 317 short tons of tools and equipment to the locationby air and sea. The ADVON team arrived in September 2002and began dewatering, establishing command and control, andpreparing for the remainder of the team. By the end of themonth the team was 160 personnel strong, with crews workingin shifts seven days per week, 24 hours per day.

Water, Water Everywhere �Successful construction hinged on dewatering the airfield,

and the ADVON team hit the ground running. Drainageditches were dug, and in one month more than 3 million gallonsof water had been removed. Keeping water away from the newrunway and taxiway sections involved placing gravity drains in arock drainage layer constructed within them. About 150,000tons of earthen material was removed from the infields forpositive drainage away from the airfield surface, and seven areainlets were installed along with a collection vault with adjoiningpump vault.

Conventional open trench construction is costly and timeconsuming when installing utilities. The 819th/219th ERHSturned toward the future and trenchless technology. A horizontalboring machine was used to tunnel beneath the airfield pavementand install steel casing for the new HDPE (high density polyethyl-ene) drainage line. The specialized training required paid off,saving 1,500 man-hours during the project and establishing the819th/219th ERHS as the first military construction unit inDepartment of Defense history to complete a horizontal bore.

A Stakeless Job Site � the Future is NowA comprehensive survey was required of the entire airfield

� covering 12 million square feet. Months earlier, engineeringpersonnel studied the use of Global Positioning System technol-ogy to do the survey. A conventional survey would take weeks tocollect, record and analyze the large amounts of informationneeded. With handheld GPS surveying instruments, 2,500 datapoints were collected in approximately two days by only twopeople. Raw data was brought to life by linking 10,000 designpoints to the existing site.

�You can go anywhere on the site and find out cut and fillinstantly � it�s great,� said TSgt John Martin, surveying

NCOIC. �We were essentially able to run five jobs concurrentlywith only two surveyors.�

Before deploying, the 819th/219th ERHS purchased amotor grader with an integrated GPS guidance system. Any-where the operator drove on the airfield, the grader blade wouldmatch the design required at that location. GPS was used forevery aspect of the project, saving 6,000 hours in surveying andconstruction. The 819th/219th ERHS is the first militaryconstruction unit to rely completely on GPS for all surveying andconstruction, making the job completely stakeless, and the firstAir Force unit to use GPS with earth-moving equipment.

Rejuvenating the RunwayAirfield rehabilitation began with cold milling the full-depth

repair area and continued by removing two inches of asphaltfrom the remainder of the asphalt surface. The 819th/219thERHS had very little milling experience prior to this project,and each pass of the milling machine required tremendousaccuracy to retain the existing properties of the pavement. Tobeat the learning curve, the whole team took a one-week millingcourse and arranged for a technical representative to spend threedays on site to educate the crew.

During training, team members became experts at using thesonic sensors on the machine to automatically adjust the cuttinghead to the programmed depth. The technology and trainingpaid off for the team, which completed milling the 1.3 million-square-feet of asphalt pavement in just 30 days. All the millingcreated asphalt material that was used to construct the shoulders,and the milling machine paid for itself in one project.

Milling created a great surface for the new overlay to lockinto the pavement structure. With the surface now prepared, thepaving team fired up the screed. Meeting tolerance on airfieldpavement with a one-eighth inch vertical change in 12 feet is

A massive airfield project puts civil engineers on the leading edge of military construction

RED HORSE Triumphs with Technologyby

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TSgt John Martin uses GPS to survey. Points are transferred to theGPS-integrated grader for construction. (DOD photo)

very challenging. The truck drivers,screed operators, paver operator, androller operators all play a vital part.Members of the squadron fashioned anasphalt cutting wheel and attached it tothe finish roller, which was a quick wayto cut longitudinal joins while achievingcorrect density. To bridge the gap be-tween hard work and experience wearranged for the top three airfield pave-ment engineers from the Army Corps ofEngineers to take us from proficient toperfection.

�At first I was nervous with theinexperience of the crew,� said MSgtDarrin Small, �but this is the best (as-phalt) mat and paving crew I have everseen!� The paving team placed almost22,000 tons in a one-month period alone.Testing revealed the team consistentlyachieved both surface tolerance and targetdensity exceeding COE airfield standards.

The remainder of the airfield is madeup of Portland Cement Concrete. Fourdifferent types of some of the worstsealants filled the concrete joints on theairfield. The team fashioned severaldifferent types of equipment attachmentsto remove the different sealants theyencountered. They faced equipmentshortages, but once outfitted with saws,

joint plows, backer rod and sealant, therewas no stopping them.

�It�s kind of amazing; it seems liketoo much work, and then when you finishyou realize how fast the time went,� saidSSgt Ronal Reed Jr. The team was able toremove and replace 22 miles of jointsealant in just 10 weeks.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling �The thrust of the project centered

around the 2,000-foot runway and 1,775-foot taxiway full-depth repair sections. Weemployed GPS in each stage of theexcavation, lift thickness and slope of thefull-depth repairs. The material wasplaced with end dump trucks and leveledout with graders to reduce segregation.The GPS-controlled grader then cut thecurrent lift to the correct thickness, andthen the rollers went to work. An entirelift, including compaction, would onlytake two to three days from start to finish.

The use of GPS surveying andconstruction equipment took two weeksoff the full-depth schedule alone. Progresswas slowed at times, however, by a lack ofquality construction materials. Our basecourse went through about 11 differentiterations in four months before finallygetting the product to consistently meet the

Work in the Afghan environment can be challengingbut also very rewarding, as members of the 200th/201stRED HORSE Squadron from Camp Perry Air NationalGuard Station, OH, and Fort Indiantown Gap, PA, foundwhen they deployed there last year for a major undertak-ing. Their task was to completely rebuild the Air ForceVillage as well as the runway at Bagram Air Base. By thetime the runway project was finished, more than 600concrete slabs had been replaced, and the ExpeditionaryRED HORSE team had successfully performed airfielddamage repair at night.

Great ExpectationsThe original runway was constructed by the Soviets as a

fighter platform, forming concrete slabs with wood between theslabs. The wood was left after placement to serve as expansionjoints. Our original runway tasking was to replace approxi-mately 70 failing 13 by 11-foot concrete slabs. We arrived witha DPRS (deployable pavement repair system) and the expecta-tion of completing the project in approximately 45 days.

While our advon team was at the base, the Air Force CivilEngineer Support Agency�s pavement evaluation team arrived

gradation requirements. This mademeeting our construction schedule andcompaction requirements difficult. Thefull-depth team had to place a six-inch liftto end up with three inches of compactedmaterial after all the oversized segregatedmaterial was hauled away.

We developed in-house constructionmaterial analysis testing capabilityspecifically for this reason. Our teamreceived training on the multitude oftesting equipment and one-on-one on-siteinteraction with COE experts. This gaveour testing lab personnel the training andconfidence required for the accuracy oftesting necessary. The team completedmore than 1,700 tests on soil, concreteand asphalt during the project. By thetime the project was completed, the teamhad developed the first complete mobilematerial analysis laboratory in the AirForce.

Then There Was LightThe airfield was still not complete until

new lights were installed and commis-sioned. The new lighting system included706 lights and 48 illuminated guidancesigns. The biggest challenge for the teamwas overcoming lack of experience.

RED HORSE performs runway repairunder cover of darkness

At the Tip of the Spear

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and increased the number of repairs needed to 504 slabs. As weprogressed we identified additional slabs, bringing the finalnumber to 628. We quickly geared up and expanded bothmanpower and schedule.

6 SPRING 2003

SSgt Scott McHugh, a heavy equipment operator, shovelsconcrete out of a chute during nighttime taxiway slab repair.(Photo by SSgt Bobby Yettman)

�The learning curve was steep,� said1Lt Bryan Cooper, �but the team wasquickly working in concert with the othercareer fields, and we were able to install260 lights in just one month!�

The placement of each light requiredmeticulous detail. Each runway light is setdirectly across from its counterpart, andall lights are positioned at the correctelevation and alignment. To quickly andaccurately set the lights in concrete, topwind trailer jacks and angle iron wereused to develop a lighting can jig. Morethan 150,000 feet of trenches, conduit,counter poise for lightning protection,and wire were dug, placed and pulled.

The lighting design required airfieldutility cuts that are costly in time andmaterials. We purchased a directional drillto cut costs and sent a team to attendschool to learn the process. The machinehas a rotating cutter head that spins, andthe cuttings flow back to the beginning ofthe drill in a drilling mud. The directionaldrill cuts an opening wide enough to fit therequired number of conduits, and they arepulled through to manholes that are set oneither end.

�Some drills you could do in aheartbeat, but others were a real chal-lenge,� said SSgt Casey Kuhn, lead

directional driller.�Overall, drilling savedus lots of time.� Theteam perfected theprocess and saved4,000 man-hoursduring the project inairfield trenching andrepairs.

CAN DO, WILLDO, HAVE DONE

No matter howmuch technology wasincorporated into theproject, people are whatmade the job happen.Without the support ofvehicle maintainers,Supply and Services, the crews on theairfield would not have been able toaccomplish the project four weeks earlyand $500,000 under budget.

�Our young craftsmen were chal-lenged with the impossible,� said CMSgtSteven Kembel, project NCOIC, �andthey overcame with outstanding results!�

All said and done, the team pumpedenough water to fill eight Olympic-sizedswimming pools, hauled the equivalentweight of 1,665 fully loaded C�17s, paved

an area the size of 60 football fields, andplaced enough electrical cable, counterpoise and conduit to stretch up and downMount Everest six times. In 170 days, the819th/219th ERHS made its mark at thisforward location and contributed to thecapability of the United States Air Force.To the HORSE!

Capt Ryan Novotny is a project engineerwith the 819th RHS, Malmstrom AFB, MT.

One priority was to start procurement of a concrete batchplant, given that we would be placing over 2,500 cubic yards ofconcrete. We started procurement in June, but the batch plantdidn�t arrive until Sept 7. Time constraints necessitated use ofthe DPRS until the batch plant was operational.

During the first three months of the project, more than1,800 cubic yards of concrete were produced using the DPRS,with more than 1,000 cubic yards produced in one month.Those who have used a DPRS will understand what a majorundertaking that was.

The DPRS is a mobile concrete machine designed forairfield damage repair. It is designed to produce limited quanti-ties of concrete quickly. However, on this project we used itcontinuously for the first three months, doing almost half of allthe repairs with it.

The DPRS is sensitive to many variables, such as the size ofstone or quality of sand. The vehicle mechanics did an incrediblejob of keeping it running, and the operators are to be com-mended for producing more in one month than, to myknowledge, anyone else ever has with a DPRS. Stone quality wasvery poor, and repairs made necessary by the use of large-sizestone were continuous. The team was performing 60-70 repairsper week by the time the batch plant became operational.

Using the batch plant, we were able to place as many as 38slabs in a single day. But we held out the last slab repair for theDPRS. Since the last slab was on a taxiway, and the base was in


blackout conditions, we saw an opportunity for training anddecided to do the repair at night using night vision goggles, orNVG. It was a real experience, and we learned a number of lessonsthat may prove useful for future use of NVG in performing airfielddamage repair.

Lessons LearnedLesson one is to spend a lot of time using the NVGs prior

to doing a full repair. After first putting them on, it seems as ifyou can see everything and there will be no problem. It�s onlyafter you start working in them that you realize how severe theloss of depth perception is. Also, with no color vision therunway looks a lot like the edges. That may not be a bigproblem on a normal runway, but on a runway surrounded bylandmines like Bagram, it could become a big problem quickly.

The viewpoint through NVGs is very different. I personallylearned that the hard way when I managed to find the only 15-foot section, out of more than 20,000 feet of runway andtaxiway edge, that had a 12-inch drop in a spot where we hadremoved the forms from a previous pour. Not that I heardanything from the troops about getting my SUV stuck on theside of an active taxiway � right.

Did we cheat some? Yes. We pulled out flashlights on occasionto check some things. Do I think that it could be done withoutcheating? Yes, but only with a lot more experience with the NVGs.We had done quite a bit of preparation prior to the pour and placed

A1C Nathan Laidlaw operates a horizontal boring machine. Themachine bores large holes for utility crossings under the airfieldsurface, eliminating trenching. (Photo by SSgt Tony R. Tolley)

Firefighters from Eielson Air Force Base, AK,battled blazes and dodged bullets and mortar fire duringtheir deployment to Afghanistan for Operation ENDUR-ING FREEDOM. However, the challenges for the 354thCivil Engineer Squadron �Icemen� skyrocketed whenthe firefighters discovered they had to fight massivebuilding fires with little equipment.

�We have plenty of equipment at Eielson, but whenwe deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, lastyear, equipment was scarce. We had to find new waysto accomplish the mission,� said TSgt Pat Miller, thedeployed assistant chief.

There aren�t any local firefighters near Bagram,which meant Eielson firefighters were one of the city�sprimary sources for emergency response.

�It was a �good will mission� to help the locals,�said Sergeant Miller. �We were called to an off-baselocation, an eight-plex strip mall, which had its fourcenter units engulfed in flames. We established therewere no life safety issues, so we focused on saving the

equipment and supplies on the inactivetaxiway prior to the actual repair.

Everyone at a blackout base shoulduse NVGs for a while to learn howmuch effect extraneous light has on thevision of the wearer. For example, whenfollowing lead vehicles, you are blindedwhen they put on the brakes. Even thedash lights emit enough stray light tolimit the ability to see well whiledriving. We found it helpful to discon-nect brake lights or tape over all but avery small area, cover dash lights withtape and take the time to fully cleanwindows before starting.

Using plenty of radios helps compen-sate for some of the loss of sight. The useof spotters becomes even more criticalthan in normal environments and allowsbetter and safer use of loaders, as well asother equipment. After placing 600 slabsof concrete on this project, we werepretty accurate at estimating quantitiesneeded very closely, but the lack of depthperception had enough of an effect that

we were a little short when finished(nothing a little rapid-set runway repairmaterial couldn�t fix).

Finishing the concrete with NVGswas also difficult due to the lack of depthperception, and I would not expect thefinished product to be as good as onefinished during the day.

Close CallsThroughout the airfield repair project

we had the opportunity to work with a19-man Prime BEEF team, whichintegrated fully with our troops andperformed admirably, and with multiplecoalition forces engineers. The opportu-nity to work with a highly diversecoalition force was both enjoyable andchallenging, especially with the languagebarrier when trying to communicate withthe tower.

The runway remained active duringour entire project. Flying was restricted forseven hours a day, but even during re-stricted hours we still had to pull off

constantly for flights. That�s one reasonfor the large increase in the number ofslabs we could place using the batchplant. We could pull the transit trucks offand back on quickly, while the DPRStook 30 minutes to pull off and getstarted again.

With all the aircraft activity we hada number of close calls � greatlyincreasing the pucker factor on the job� especially in the beginning until thepilots became used to us working on therunway. We also had to redo somerepairs due to the jet wash of aircraftturning near new concrete.

I am pleased to say that the projectwas completed without major incident,working in a busy environment underdifficult conditions. We showed it couldbe done.

Lt Col Michael Skomrock was thedetachment commander for the 200thExpeditionary RED HORSE Squadron onthis deployment.

8 SPRING 2003

At the Tip of the Spear Continued

Eielson “Icemen”Battle Blazes

in Afghanistan

Airman Eric Smith, 354th CES Fire Department, shakeshands with local children at an orphanage in Charikar,Afghanistan while delivering humanitarian aid.(U.S. Army photo by Sgt Sean A. Terry)


There were land mines going off everywhere. At night, wewould watch the tracer fire and mortar explosions in themountains surrounding the base.�

�We received a call one night reporting a group from theinternational de-miners organization had gone out to a house todefuse a mine and it had detonated,� said Sergeant Miller. �Oneperson had been seriously injured. We responded to extinguishthe house fire. An ambulance arrived to transport the injuredman. As the ambulance drove away, it hit a tank mine and wasblown to pieces. Four responders were killed and 16 wereinjured. We couldn�t do anything but stand back for fear ofsecondary explosions.�

Despite the difficult situations, the deployed Eielsonfirefighters did an outstanding job, said Eielson fire chief JimDidier.

�These firefighters did the job they were trained to do in adifficult situation, and did it extremely well,� he said. �Not onlydid they do the job, but they improved conditions for thosefirefighters who deployed next. It should make every person inthe 354th Fighter Wing proud to serve with them.�

Sergeant Miller is also proud of the firefighters he workedwith during the deployment. �Everyone worked very hard inAfghanistan to do their part to accomplish the mission. We didour best with what tools and equipment we had available andcame out on top. We didn�t lose anyone in a fire or to senselessmistakes. We are well-trained and ready to face whatever comesour way.� (A1C Jasmine Campa 354th Fighter Wing PublicAffairs)

A Stealth BeddownTeam erects B-2 shelters at deployed location

Twenty members of the 49th Materiel Maintenance Squad-ron from Holloman Air Force Base, NM, spent more than 70days at a deployed location late last year erecting portableshelters for B-2 Spirit bombers.

The Air Force now has two transportable B-2 ShelterSystems that allow the Stealth bombers to deploy overseas.Deploying the B-2s to forward locations significantly shortenscombat missions, which have been as long as 44 hours fromWhiteman AFB, MO, according to Lt Col Myron Majors, 49thMMS commander.

�This was the first time these shelters were constructed foroperational use,� he said. �We hand-picked a team with a coreof troops who had experience in B2SS construction during thetest and evaluation phase. Their experience, along with a lot ofingenuity and hard work, paid off as they finished the twoshelters about three weeks ahead of the original schedule despitea number of modifications required in the field.�

Each B2SS stretches almost a football field wide with aninterior volume of 1.1 million cubic feet, providing the environ-ment needed to maintain the stealth characteristics of the B-2 ata forward location. The Combat Support System ProgramOffice at Eglin AFB, FL, manages the B2SS program, in

cooperation with the B-2 System Program Office at TinkerAFB, OK, and the Directorate of Requirements at Headquar-ters Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, VA. Each totalshelter package costs about $2.5 million and can be transportedin 29 C-130 Hercules.

The soft-walled shelters, built by American SpaceframeFabricators, Inc. of Crystal River, FL, can withstand extremetemperatures, snow and winds. They can also be equipped witha pressured liner to protect troops from biological and chemical

Members of the 49th MMS erected two portable shelters for B-2sat a deployed location. (Photos courtesy 49th MMS)

other four units, all privately owned. The owners didn�t haveinsurance so whatever was lost would be gone forever,� he said.

�We fought the blaze for roughly two and a half hours. Wedidn�t have fire hydrants or a local water supply. Our vehicleswere the only water supply,� he added. �One shop caught on fireand six, 55-gallon gasoline drums blew up. The fuel raineddown all over everyone, and the mud walls of the buildingsbegan collapsing. Fortunately, we had all backed up to a safedistance.�

Although team members were helping the Afghans, some-times their presence caused more problems than the fires theywere fighting.

�There were always local residents and the media, like CNN,trying to get as close to the fires as possible. They were constantlyin the way, trying to get a better view or film everything that wasgoing on. However, after the explosions, we had no problemskeeping everyone at a safe distance,� said Sergeant Miller.

Crowd control played an important part in allowing thefirefighters to do their job. �Security forces members earned anew level of respect from the firefighters,� he said. �Manysoldiers and locals walked around with AK-47 assault rifles androcket-propelled grenade launchers � you never knew if a riotwas going to break out. Security forces came out to all of theincidents and showed superior crowd control compared to theother responding forces.�

It was a memorable first deployment for A1C Rick Mallow,a journeyman firefighter. �It was a great experience,� he said.�We helped out a lot. Even so, it got pretty strenuous at times.

10 SPRING 2003

Erecting the B-2 shelters,like most complex projects,relied on teamwork. Membersof CEMIRT, the Civil Engi-neer Maintenance, Inspection,and Repair Team out of theAir Force Civil EngineerSupport Agency, helped the49th Materiel MaintenanceSquadron configure and installthe electrical system for thehangars, while AFCAP, the AirForce Contract AugmentationProgram, provided specializedequipment.

Plans originally called fordeploying Harvest Falcongenerator sets to provide

Help arrives from CEMIRT, AFCAPHelp arrives from CEMIRT, AFCAPHelp arrives from CEMIRT, AFCAPHelp arrives from CEMIRT, AFCAPHelp arrives from CEMIRT, AFCAP

attacks. One of the greatest challengeswas designing the shelter�s 10-tonclamshell retractable door, which rollsback like a huge eyelid. The shelters alsofeature state-of-the-art heating, ventilationand air conditioning and control systems.

Capt Brent Gibson headed the multi-disciplinary 49th MMS team that erectedthe hangars. �The B2SS is very large,� hesaid. �You could fit about five ACHportable aircraft hangars inside of it. Thesheer size of the hangar, especially whenyou have workers up on top of it, getsyour attention. Working 60 feet in the airalso gets your attention.�

�The trusses are huge metal structuresthat span from one side to the other,�Captain Gibson explained. �We used twoerection towers forming kind of a tripod,with one person controlling both wenches,to pull the first truss into place. It was thenanchored down with cables. Once the firstone was in place, each successive truss wasattached to the previous one. Watching25,000 pounds of metal rising from theground is impressive.�

Much of the finish work had to bedone by hand. �The covering is composedof huge sheets of fabric that have eyeletsthat we run rope through,� said Gibson,�which means that we have peopleworking on top of the structure, strappedin with harnesses and safety lines. TheB2SS is an animal, but it�s pretty neatwhen it comes together.�

the existing local power grid.TSgt Mike Alvarez and

SSgt Christopher Burgess, alsofrom CEMIRT, deployed inlate October after hangarconstruction was well under-way and the structures wereready to receive power.Working with the 49th MMSelectrical team of MSgtHoward Nicewander, SSgtCorey Denny, and SSgt BobPiispanen, they installed ahigh-voltage stepdown trans-former, high-voltage switches,a primary switch center andcabling according to thedesign plan. The local base

operating support contractorinstalled an underground feedto the site.

�Planning for the projecttook a great deal of time,because at first nobody knewwhat we were going to do,how we were going to do it, orwhat we would have to workwith,� said TSgt Mike Alvarez,CEMIRT team leader. �Butonce we determined that thelocal power source was ad-equate and stable, we were ableto come up with a good plan.�

�The actual wiringportion of the project wasrelatively easy, and we were

Other members of the 49th MMSdeployed team were impressed with theexperience as well. �It was a goodlearning experience,� said SrA Fred Long.�I never knew that much about buildingsuntil this deployment.�

�It�s rewarding to see the completedstructure,� added TSgt Lawrence Corron.�It makes all the hard work worthwhile.�

Additional military, civilian andcontract representatives from HQ ACC,the B-2 SPO, the Air Armament Centerand the Air Force Civil Engineer SupportAgency supported the combined effort.

�The entire team worked extremelywell together,� said Captain Gibson.�CMSgt Billy Doolittle from ACC selecteda team of highly trained experts andpulled off the impossible. The talent wasthere, but this team�s drive generated itsmomentum. Each member demonstratedsound leadership, determination, and acommitment to accomplish what hadnever been done before, and that made allthe difference.� (Compiled from interviewsby Lois Walker, HQ AFCESA Historian, andan Air Combat Command News Servicereport.)

Dual construction towers (visible in front of first truss) were used to erect the B2SS. Bothhangars were erected simultaneously.

electrical power for thehangars. That would haverequired setting up a primepower plant, a fuel bladder andpiping, and deploying powerproduction specialists to run a24/7 operation and maintainthe generators. CEMIRTmembers did some homeworkand determined that there wasan ample supply of reliablecommercial power at the site.In consultation with membersof the base engineer staff andthe 49th MMS, CEMIRT�sFrank Burrier and SSgt TravisPoling designed a connectionscheme to hook the hangars to


able to complete the project innine days. The greatest pushwas to get power connected intime for the contractor, whohad to test the hangar�s hugeair conditioning units and get

the phase rotation correct onall three units, to do his work.But working with the troopsfrom the 49th was an awesomeexperience. They did anoutstanding job.�

Hooking to commercialpower not only freed upcritical generator assets for useat other deployed locations,but also resulted in a costavoidance of more than $1.5million.

AFCAP also played animportant role in the B-2shelter construction project.The AFCAP contractor,Readiness ManagementSupport, was called on toacquire and expedite deliveryof the construction equipmentnecessary to erect the hangarsand the electrical systemsrequired for CEMIRT and the49th MMS to install power.

RED HORSE Takes to the SkyFirst airborne team stands up in Southwest Asia

Amid chopping sounds of the CH�47 Chinook, theequipment sling-loaded to the helicopter’s undercarriage isslowly lowered to the runway below. The slings are cut loose asindividuals quickly exit the helicopter. The sun is slowlysetting on the horizon, and as the colors dance in theevening haze a glance down the runway reveals two largecraters in the center of the strip. The Airborne REDHORSE team quickly moves in for repairs. Their mission:open the runway for follow-on forces.

RED HORSE is blazing trails again � this time,from the air. The Airborne RED HORSE concept wasdeveloped to meet the vision of the Chief of Staff of the

Air Force that combatant commanders have an airborne airfieldassessment and repair capability. The purpose of ARH units isto �assess, prepare and establish� contingency air bases inremote locations through air-drop, air-insertion orair-delivery.

In the Fall of 2001, the 819th RED HORSESquadron, Malmstrom Air Force Base, MT, tookthe lead on this new initiative. MSgt MikeDeShon began learning all about U.S. Armyairfield damage repair operations with the 82ndAirborne Division, Fort Bragg, NC, and 101stAirborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell,KY.

�There was a lot of preliminary research thatneeded to be accomplished,� said SergeantDeShon. �We wanted to make sure we talked withthe right people, listened to their concerns, andthen drafted our own concept of operations basedon our findings.�

Instant communication lines were established between the82nd Division�s 618th Engineering Company and the 101stDivision�s 887th Engr. Co. These companies use a light airfieldrepair package for expedient crater repair on runways. Theirunique task is to support the forcible entry and airfield seizuremissions of their respective brigades. The 618th accomplishesthis through airborne techniques, while the 887th uses airassault tactics.

Utilizing a new mobile airfield repair equipment set, orMARES, RED HORSE proceeded to combine both of thesecapabilities to accomplish the objective. In December, the 1stExpeditionary RED HORSE Group commander, Col TerryCrummett, contracted with Readiness Management Support,through the Air Force Contract Augmentation Program, toprocure the first MARES and have it delivered to SWA.

With the 819th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadronheavily tasked supporting more than $27 million in construction

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The local base operating support contractor at thedeployed location helped CEMIRT make the finalconnection into the host nation power supply

Within 10 days of notifi-cation to proceed, RMSgathered the necessary equip-ment, including such items asa 7.5-ton crane and a speciallymanufactured high-voltagestepdown transformer, deliv-ered them to DubaiInternational Airport in theUnited Arab Emirates, andmade arrangements for aUkrainian IL-76 aircraft to flythe package to its finaldestination. The necessaryequipment and supplies wereon site in time to meet upwith the B-2 shelter systems,which arrived by sea. (LoisWalker, HQ AFCESA Historian)

Members of the 819th Expeditionary RED HORSE assemble with the MARES,establishing the first-ever Airborne RED HORSE team in Southwest Asia inFebruary. (Photo by MSgt Richard Cook)

12 SPRING 2003

throughout the U.S. Central Commandarea of responsibility, the 1st ERHGcalled on Mr. Dave Wagner at the AirForce Civil Engineer Support Agency,Tyndall AFB, FL, to assist. Dave coordi-nated between the vendors in the UnitedStates and the 1st ERHG.

By February, the hard work paid offas the U.S. Air Force and REDHORSE community stood up the veryfirst Airborne RED HORSE team inSouthwest Asia, led by the 819thERHS. Training began immediately forthe team.

Surface-to-air missiles suddenly appearagainst the night sky, screeching from theunderbrush below. The UH-1 Huey initiatesa hard right bank, but seconds too late as theprojectiles slam into the tail rudder. A maydaycall is heard on the radio as the helicopterplummets toward earth. Airborne firefightersfrom the 347th Civil Engineer Squadron atMoody Air Force Base quickly mobilize andarrive on the scene within minutes to witnessa fiery blaze engulfing the Huey. Donningtheir gear, they swiftly reach for the hand lineof the newly designed First Response Expedi-tionary Fire Vehicle, or FRE-Fire.

AFRL technology benefits airborne firefightersAFRL technology benefits airborne firefightersAFRL technology benefits airborne firefightersAFRL technology benefits airborne firefightersAFRL technology benefits airborne firefighters

�We had an aggressive schedule tomeet in order to become operation-capable,� said Col Crummett, �but, withthe teamwork from AFCAP, AFCESA andour LG community, we were able to meetthe demand.�

The 819th ERHS ended its six-month deployment in support ofOperation ENDURING FREEDOM in March,and the first-ever ARH that had madehistory just two months earlier handed thereins to the next squadron to continue themission, the 823rd RHS, just in time tosupport Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

�The RED HORSE community isagain at the leading edge in revolutioniz-ing the way we accomplish airfieldrepairs,� reflected TSgt Jeff Schneberger,819th ARH crater team chief, �and I�mproud to be a charter member of thisteam.�

To the HORSE � AIRBORNE!

(Capt Kevin “Ozzie” Osborne, civilengineer project officer, 819th RED HORSESquadron. Capt Osborne is the AirborneRED HORSE Project Officer.)

This was one of many firefightingscenarios held during the first AirborneRED HORSE field training exercise atAvon Park military range in Florida lastfall in which FRE-Fire began its techno-logical transition from laboratory testingto real world application.

Developed by the Air Force ResearchLaboratory Fire Research Group at TyndallAFB, FL, FRE-Fire combines theRosenbauer company�s ultra high pressurewater spray system with a platformdesigned for the John Deer Military Gator.It is designed to carry both 50 gallons ofwater and 5 gallons of foam and, using aspecially crafted nozzle designed by AFRL,

can deliver a steady stream of water at1500 psi. It is lightweight and is beingdesigned for airdrop and helicopter slingloading for insertion into austere airfields,giving airborne firefighting teams theability to provide crash rescue and limitedfirefighting capability.

�Compact size and high powerperformance make this vehicle ideal forproviding Day One deployment fireprotection, bridging the gap betweenflight line fire extinguishers and crash/rescue fire trucks,� said Jennifer Kalberer,project officer at AFRL Fire Research.

AFRL took the initiative in Septem-ber 2002, working on a design for asmall, mobile fire fighting vehicle thatcould fight 2-D and 3-D hydrocarbon fuelfires. Within one month, the projectevolved from the drafting board to thefirst successful prototype testing, whichincluded modifications recommended byUSAF firefighters.

After the first test of the FRE-Firelast fall, CMSgt Tim Seigal, HeadquartersAir Combat Command fire protectionmanager, commented that �fighting firesusing JP-8 probably gave the Moody AFBteam some of the most realistic trainingthey will ever experience.�

�It is imperative that firefighters havethe capability to deploy with a light,compact, quick-response fire fightingvehicle,� said MSgt Steven Lowell,supervisor of the fire fighting exercises atAvon Park. �The FRE-Fire fits the bill. Itis quickly deployable, requires minimalspace on the aircraft and will provideairborne firefighters with an excellentfirst-in limited fire fighting capability.�(Jennifer Kiel, AFRL Fire Research Group)

FRE-Fire vehicle in action during exercises at Avon Park Air Force Range. The FRE-Firevehicle is designed for use at forward operating locations and for tent city protection. Itrecently deployed for use in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. (Photo courtesy AFRL)


Interview

Ms. Kathleen I. Ferguson

Interview

From the new Mission Support Group structure to strategic partnering to an aging civilian workforce

and A�76 programs, there are significant changes happening now and on the horizon for Air Force civil

engineering. In this interview with Air Force Civil Engineer magazine, Ms. Kathleen I. Ferguson,

Deputy Air Force Civil Engineer, discusses the issues she�s working on behalf of civil engineers

worldwide and her philosophy on how to succeed in these �

AFCE: Before taking yourcurrent position as The Deputy AirForce Civil Engineer, you worked asChief, Combat Support Division forthe Directorate of Supply, DeputyChief of Staff for Installations andLogistics. You also served as chief ofthe Installations Support Panel twice,from 1995-1997 and 1999-2001. Hasserving in other capacities within IL,outside the typical civil engineerspectrum, brought new perspectiveto your current work?

Ms. Ferguson: It was a greatopportunity for me to work in theDirectorate of Supply, and it was verydifferent from anything I had everdone. I had spent the rest of mycareer in various civil engineeringcapacities. During my time in AirForce Supply I managed the appro-priations 3080, other procurementand 3011, procurement of ammuni-tion accounts for the Air Force. Wemanaged the funding from cradle tograve � the planning, the program-ming, the budgeting and throughoutexecution of the dollars. Interestingly,I worked a lot of CE issues duringthat time. For instance, we bought allthe vehicles for civil engineering,including construction equipmentand RED HORSE vehicles. Webought all the war reserve materielfor the Air Force, as well as expedi-tionary airfield lighting systems,mobile aircraft arresting systems, andall the Harvest Bare equipment fordeployed locations.

Changing TimesAFCE: What are some of the

issues you plan to work in thecoming year?

Ms. Ferguson: My primaryresponsibility is to assist The AirForce Civil Engineer, Maj GenRobbins, in execution of the missionof Air Force Civil Engineering.Therefore, I am involved in a myriadof issues facing CE today � fromsupporting the wartime mission tobeing good stewards of the environ-ment to executing our militaryconstruction and housing programs.Because of the wide variety of issueswe work on a day-to-day basis I willfocus on just a few. As you wouldexpect, we are very involved insupporting the Global War onTerrorism, Operation NOBLE EAGLE,Operation ENDURING FREEDOM andnow Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Someof the key challenges we are facingare engineering deployment issues,relieving our stressed career fields,and demobilizing the Air ReserveComponent.

The Air Force has 104,000family housing units, and 40,000 ofthose do not meet modern standardsand require either major renovationor replacement. One of the tools inour toolbox is the use of authoritiesallowing us to privatize where it iseconomically feasible. The Air Forcecurrently has 38 projects pro-grammed that will result in 40,000privatized units. We have fiveprojects awarded today, and areworking very hard to award anothereight projects in the next 12 months.

We are continuing our efforts toprovide improved automation toolsto our personnel. I chair the Automa-tion Steering Group. Its mission is toimprove business processes throughtransitioning our current automationtools into a single logical databasesupporting the full range ofoperational and contingency respon-sibilities. ACES, the Automated CivilEngineer System, will provide theautomated tools our installations andmajor commands need to do theirjob. It has a multitude offunctionalities � operations, envi-ronmental, real property, housing andproject management � those thingsour personnel need to do their jobs

14 SPRING 2003

more effectively and efficiently. Additionally, we need tobe forward thinking. We�re looking at how we�re execut-ing near-term and developing a strategic plan for wherewe want to be five years and 10 years down the road.

I also participate in the Engineering Senior Execu-tive Panel. The ESEP is the SES-level group that providesoverall direction to the Unified Facilities Criteria pro-gram and addresses any other engineering matters ofcommon interest to DoD and the services.

AFCE: What other programs are absorbing yourtime?

Ms. Ferguson: I spend a good deal of my time onpersonnel issues as Chair of the Civil Engineer CareerProgram Policy Council. The policy council, whichincludes representatives from all major commands as wellas all career fields in the Civil Engineer Career Program,is working many issues today on behalf of our civilians.For instance, executive assessment process, education andtraining opportunities, accession planning, PalaceAcquire interns and force renewal of our workforce.

I also participate on a senior executive panel with mycounterparts in the Army, Navy and MarineCorps in the development and assimilationof engineers into the Facilities EngineerCareer Field under DAWIA (DefenseAcquisition Workforce Improvement Act)(Nov 90). Both military and civilianpositions that are considered acquisitionare eligible for assimilation. The actualnumber of covered positions will not beknown until all the positions are coded bythe major commands. There are five sub-areas within FE that include planning,engineering & construction, base opera-tions & support (facility management), realestate and environmental. We currentlyhave an Integrated Process Team withparticipants from all major commandsparticipating in developing the assimilationplan for Air Force personnel into this newcareer field under DAWIA.

AFCE: There have been news reports that the AirForce�s civilian work force is �out of balance,� with feweryoung employees than needed to replace those comingeligible for retirement. Do you think the career field is onthe right track to satisfy current and future Air Forcemission needs?

Ms. Ferguson: One of the biggest challenges weface is the aging work force and the number of peoplewho are eligible to retire over the next five years. Inhousing, for instance, 41.5 percent of our folks areeligible to retire in the next five years. That�s prettytypical of most of our career fields covered by the CECP.

One of the goals of the CECP Policy Council is tomake sure we have people coming up through the ranks,trained, with the right experience and in the right gradestructure, so that we have people to backfill all the GS-12,-13, -14 and -15 positions that will become vacant overthe next few years. We are working this issue very hardthrough mentoring, training and accession planning.

The Policy Council is also evaluating the health ofeach of the individual career fields. We�re starting withthe housing career field because it�s pretty small, withonly 202 people, and also because there have been manychanges in the housing business over the last few years.We�ve outsourced a lot of the housing managementoffices, and we�re privatizing nearly 40,000 familyhousing units at 38 installations. The Policy Council hascharged Katie Halvorson, chief, AF Housing OperationsBranch, and Brenda Robinson, HQ Air Combat Com-mand Programs Division, to evaluate the housing careerfield to ensure the promotion paths and create a proto-type program to fix any problems with the career field.Once that�s done, we�ll extrapolate it to other careerfields.

Another issue that we need to look at is accessionplanning, which ties into how we�re going to fill thosepositions. That�s moving folks from one place to anotherand making sure they have the right training, the rightskills and the right things in their personal portfolios tomake them competitive. In a broad sense, the PolicyCouncil will be looking at some tools to help with that.

AFCE: What are some of the things that we can doin the field to help with recruitment and retention ofcivilians?

Ms. Ferguson: Some individual organizations are

Percentage of employees in CECP eligible to retire in less than five years


doing a good job of recruiting and then growing theirjunior personnel, and we can take lessons learned fromthem to apply across the Air Force. At the November2002 Policy Council meeting we brought in three deputybase civil engineers to share their experiences. At GrandForks AFB, the deputy BCE, Mary Giltner, uses manytools at this hard-to-fill location. She uses recruitment andretention bonuses, recruits heavily at local universitiesand utilizes student hires and Palace Acquire interns.

Glenn Meyer at Ellsworth AFB, SD, had manysuggestions that the CECP Policy Council is evaluating asways to improve recruiting/retention. For example, howdo we entice interns to move to a northern tier location,what other avenues of training do we have available forthe AFIT technical courses that have been eliminatedover the years, and how do we attract candidates to fillcritical positions vacated when personnel accept assign-ments in overseas locations?

Finally, Mike Clark at Eglin AFB, FL, had somedifferent challenges than the northern tier bases arefacing. One is how to reduce the amount of time it takesfor positions to clear through the staffing process, aproblem at many locations, and then clear the largestopper lists at Eglin � a very different scenario fromsome of our other locations but a very real problem forEglin.

In summary, each of our installations has challenges,but our civil engineers have found innovative ways torecruit and hire talented employees. Many of us signed onunder the Civil Service Retirement System. Under today�sFederal Employee Retirement System people are veryportable, and they tend to move between jobs a lot more.They�re not going to hire on with IBM or AT&T � orthe government � and plan to stay for 30 years. We needto find ways to convince people to come work for thefederal government and then provide them with excitingjobs so they will stay for many years.

AFCE: What kinds of training opportunities areavailable to civilian employees?

Ms. Ferguson: There are many opportunitiesavailable for both long-term and short-term training. Wehave several folks that were selected through the CivilianCareer Development Program and are attending long-term, full-time training now. In the current academicyear, we have three people at Air Command and StaffCollege, two in senior service school, a two-year Legisla-tive Fellow on Capitol Hill, and two people servingoverseas in career broadening positions. I would encour-age everyone to talk to their supervisor or mentor toevaluate whether a CCDP opportunity is right for them.We also offer many short-term training opportunitiesthrough the Civil Engineer Career Program. Personnelshould watch the CECP web site for information andopportunities.

AFCE: How do you feel about mentoring?Ms. Ferguson: Mentoring is essential for everyone,

no matter what their grade or whether they are civilian ormilitary, to help them achieve his or her full potential.Whether formal or informal, it is crucial to the develop-ment of our personnel. Everyone needs a mentor �someone they can go to for advice, feedback and careerguidance. Mentoring is everyone�s responsibility. I�vechallenged all of the Policy Council members to becomeactive mentors � both inside and outside their organiza-tion. Take the time to sit down with people and evaluatetheir career briefs and their education, and look to seewhat they need to get that next job, and the job after that,based on where they want to go in their careers.

AFCE: Change is always difficult. What kind ofadvice do you have for the civilian engineers, in terms ofhow to ride out this perpetual white water that we�re in,to encourage them to develop the right mindset and getthrough it?

Ms. Ferguson: I recently spoke to the ProfessionalHousing Managers Association. The keynote speakerspoke about the old adage, �May you live in interestingtimes.� He had a healthy perspective on that. He saidyou can think of it as either a Chinese curse or an Irishblessing. It�s all in how you interpret it.

My advice to the civilian engineers in these changingtimes is to be flexible. I think their best chance to moveforward, whether it�s to a lateral job or a promotion, is toget broad experience. Our people should not be afraid totry new things, to go from programming to environmen-tal to construction, for instance, and to work in differentplaces. If you start out at base level, do a tour at a majorcommand or at the Air Force Center for EnvironmentalExcellence or the Air Force Civil Engineer SupportAgency to help round out your background.

In the next five years, the number of opportunitiesfor our people is going to be almost overwhelming. Wealmost have more opportunities than we have people atthis stage. So, the future is bright for those who areflexible, who are willing to work hard, who understandthe AF and CE business and are willing to move and takeon new challenges.

There will be tremendous opportunities in thecoming years for our people to help mold the future ofAir Force Civil Engineering, to help define policy anddetermine our own future. If your base is going throughone of these dynamic changes, view it as an Irish blessingand get involved in helping to frame what the finaloutcome will be, rather than sitting on the sidelines.We�ve got to be involved to help draft the roadmap forthe future. Our younger folks are so smart, technologi-cally, and they�re very willing to think outside the box.There are tremendous opportunities for folks who wantto be a part of the action. I encourage everyone to seizethem.

16 SPRING 2003

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�Historically, military installations have been unableto upgrade and maintain reliable utility systems due toinadequate funding and competing installation manage-ment priorities. Utilities privatization is the preferredmethod for improving utility systems and services byallowing military installations to benefit from privatesector financing and efficiencies.�

— Honorable Paul D. Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary ofDefense, October 2002

The Air Force has adopted a revised, two-prongedapproach to revitalizing the utility systems on its bases.This approach incorporates the current utilitiesprivatization, or UP, program and ties the results of thatprocess to a new Utility System Master Plan concept. TheMaster Plan will ensure a more comprehensive analysis,planning and programming process is available toupgrade all utility systems to acceptable functioning levelsto meet base mission requirements.

The fact that the Air Force and its sister services haveexperienced a decline of investment in mission-criticalinstallation infrastructure over a period of many years wasunderscored in the most recent Installation ReadinessReport, in which eight Air Force MAJCOMS assignedutilities and grounds a C-3 or C-4 rating. A C-3 or C-4rating means the facilities have serious problems or donot support the mission. The 2003 backlog of workneeded to reduce those ratings to a C-2 (minimallyacceptable performance) or C-1 (full readiness perfor-mance) has ballooned to an astounding $1.38 billion forutilities and grounds alone.

To expedite improve-ment of utility systems, the

Office of the Secretary ofDefense directed the services

to take advantage of privatesector financing and efficiencies

through privatization and asset saleof utility systems. Further, in 2001

OSD issued Defense Planning Guid-ance directing the services to revitalize

all facilities and infrastructure to no lessthan a C-2 rating by 2010.

PATHFINDERS

DRID#9

The RequirementOSD originally issued Defense Reform Initiative

Directive #9 in 1997, directing the services to divestthemselves of all utility systems when economically viableby September 2000. Exemptions from this requirementwere granted when privatization would result in anegative security or readiness impact to the installation.To facilitate the process, Congress passed 10 USC § 2688authorizing the sale of DoD utility systems.

The Air Force launched its UP program in 1998 andbegan a methodical analysis of all Air Force-owned utilitysystems. In developing the program, the Air Forceestablished two primary goals: divesting activities notconsidered �core� to the Air Force mission, and improv-ing the condition of utility systems while providinglong-term benefits and savings to the Air Force.

The deadline for completing the privatizationprocess has been extended twice since the programbegan. In December 1998, OSD issued DRID #49,which extended the completion date to September 2003and provided additional guidance for determining theeconomic feasibility of privatization projects. InOctober 2002, OSD issued further UP guidance that re-emphasized the importance of completing privatizationanalyses and also extended the deadline for finishing theUP process to September 2005.

The PathfindersAlthough the Air Force

diligently pursued UP fromthe beginning of the OSDprogram, the process wascomplex and filled withpotential pitfalls. To minimizethe risks to Air Force resources, theUP Pathfinder program was created.Under this program, the Air Forceselected 71 systems at 26 Active, Guard and Reservebases and carried them through the entire UP process.This strategy was designed to gather lessons learned andincorporate them into future privatization efforts.

The privatization analyses for the remaining AirForce utility systems were placed on hold until the

16 SPRING 2003


Pathfinder process was complete. As a result of thePathfinder program, more than 130 lessons learned wereincorporated into the UP strategy. This resulted insignificant changes to Request for Proposal templates,economic analysis models, and Air Force UP policy andguidance that greatly improves the UP process.

Restarting the ProcessTo meet the new OSD privatization deadline, the Air

Force recently restarted the UP program for the 194utility systems previously placed on hold. MAJCOM andbase civil engineers have primary responsibility forexecution of the UP program with programmatic andtechnical assistance from the Office of The Civil Engi-

neer and the Air Force CivilEngineer Support Agency. Ateach base with potentialprivatization candidates, a UPIntegrated Process Team willbe established to execute theanalysis. This IPT will becomprised of representativesfrom Civil Engineering,Finance, Contracting, Legal,Security Forces and otheroffices as required.

To restart the process, the IPT will develop thespecifics of the RFP, appoint a Source Selection Author-ity, develop acquisition and source selection plans, collectutility data, and assist in the development of a govern-ment estimate to determine the cost of retaining theutility systems. At most installations, a Request forInterest or Sources Sought will be issued for each systemto determine the level of potential industry interest inprivatization. If more than one company expressesinterest, a competitive RFP will be issued. If only onecompany expresses interest, a streamlined sole sourceRFP will be issued. If no companies express interest,OSD requires the services to contact the local utilityprovider to determine if they are interested.

If proposals are received, the IPT will evaluate themto determine if they meet the technical requirements ofthe RFP and if they are less expensive than the govern-ment cost for retaining the system. Based on thisevaluation, the SSA will decide whether to award theproject or declare it uneconomical. If a decision is madeto award the project, the utility system will be transferredto the successful offeror after a 21-day Congressionalnotification. If no technically and economically viableproposals are received for a particular system, the AirForce will notify OSD that the system is exempt fromprivatization.

A Master PlanAlthough OSD prefers to use privatization for

revitalizing utility systems, the Air Force has found thisoption is not always viable. In many cases industry is notinterested in buying Air Force utility systems, and inothers the proposals are technically and/or economicallyunacceptable. To meet the Defense ProgrammingGuidance goal of bringing all facilities and infrastructureto at least a C-2 rating by 2010, the Air Force recognizedthe need for another tool in the utility revitalizationtoolbox. To this end, the Air Force is developing theUtility System Master Plan.

The Master Plan lays out an investment strategy thatdetermines the specific funding and timing of fundingneeded to bring utility systems to a C-2 rating andmaintain them at that level. To develop the plan, eachbase, assisted by an AFCESA Architect and Engineerfirm, will develop a detailed condition assessment of theirutility systems. They will also evaluate life cycle costs forthe components of the system and estimate sustainment,restoration and modernization funding requirements.

When implemented, theUtility System Master Plan willbe an invaluable tool fordetermining fundingrequirements for eachsystem as well as propermaintenance schedules tosustain a minimal C-2rating. This will giveMAJCOMs, commandersand base civil engineers theability to apply ever-diminishingresources to their utility systems inthe most effective manner.

The End ResultRevitalization of Air Force utility systems is vital to

maintaining our ability to support the Air Force mission.The Utilities Privatization Program is the first step inimproving utility system infrastructure. Throughprivatization and implementation of the Utility SystemMaster Plan, the Air Force plans to meet the DefenseProgramming Guidance goal by 2010 and ensure the AirForce continues to fulfill its global mission requirements.

Brian Stahl is the Utilities Revitalization Program man-ager, and Richard Woodworth and Robert Patterson areutilities privatization project managers, at HQ AFCESA,Tyndall AFB, FL.

IntegratedIntegratedIntegratedIntegratedIntegratedProcessProcessProcessProcessProcess

TTTTTeameameameameam

MASTERMASTERMASTERMASTERMASTERPLANPLANPLANPLANPLAN


18 SPRING 200318 SPRING 2003

Maj Gen Earnest O. Robbins II retires from the Air Force

in May, culminating nearly four years as The Civil

Engineer and 34 years of service to the Air Force

and the nation. From his first assignment with the

Aeronautical Systems Division in 1969, to his service

as the Air Force Space Command Civil Engineer

(1993-1996), the Air Combat Command Civil Engineer

(1996-1999), and The Civil Engineer, he has challenged

our perceptions, energized our programs, made

substantial improvements to our

readiness posture, and strengthened

the career field.

Farewell, Boss, and Godspeed!

18 SPRING 2003

AIR FORCE CIVIL ENGINEER 19AIR FORCE CIVIL ENGINEER 19AIR FORCE CIVIL ENGINEER 19

20 SPRING 2003

Education & TrainingEducation & Training

Every once in a while you feel like you reach a point where youhave come full circle. After basic training, most Air Force personnelthink their days of low crawling through tall prairie grass andperforming weapons PT at o�dark thirty are over. It�s funny the stuffone can miss. A group of civil engineers recently found themselvesgrinning from ear to ear as their faces swiped the dirt during thelow crawl, as their arms stung from constant repetitions with the8-pound M-16, and while the rain and temperature kept falling andfalling.

Members of the 97th Civil Engineer Squadron, Altus Air ForceBase, OK, revived a host of nostalgic basic training memories whileparticipating in a joint combat engineering exercise with B Com-pany, 62nd Army Engineers from Fort Sill. This was the first inwhat is hoped to be a series of exercises designed to help each unitbetter understand how the other branch of service performs in acontingency environment. Members of the 97th Services Squadronalso participated, providing hot breakfasts and dinners to the folks inthe field.

The week-long exercise took place Oct. 21-25, 2002, at AltusAFB and was set up to provide each branchone day to show their contingency engineer-ing capabilities. As CMSgt Mark Brejcha, theoriginal visionary of the exercise, put it, �Wewanted to develop an opportunity for bothbranches to spread their peacock feathers.�

The airmen and soldiers were dividedinto two units, each containing both Armyand Air Force personnel � one flight, led byan Army officer, and one platoon, led by anAir Force officer. �We wanted to ensure thateveryone had a joint team attitude,� saidChief Brejcha. �I think we succeeded.�

The Air Force demonstrated its abilitiesin several tasks, including the construction ofhardback tent shelters, airfield damage repair,minimum operating strip plotting and airfieldlighting. For the Army, the most impressivepart of the day came when they shadowedand assisted on day-to-day CE work orders.

�That�s stuff we just don�t get to do,� said 2Lt Chip Gaylord,platoon commander. �Fort Sill has a private contractor that performsits work orders, so other than their AIT (Advanced IndividualTraining), our guys have limited exposure to common maintenanceissues.�

Those work orders included several different tasks that signifi-cantly affected Altus AFB, such as repairing a water line break,installing a gas line, pouring concrete pads at the Child Develop-ment Center and Youth Center, and a �high-vis� lighting repairproject at the Altus Thrift Store. In addition, heavy equipmentoperators began laying topsoil on an 8-acre area of land near a C-17assault strip clear zone in an effort to reduce foreign object debris(FOD) and bird air strike hazards.

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The Army soldiers benefited from seeinghow the Air Force engineers operated on aday-to-day basis, and the Army troops hadtheir opportunity to impress as well. �One ofthe things that impressed me the most wastheir self-reliance,� said Chief Brejcha. �Theyhave the ability to make (vehicle) repairs onthe spot without the assistance of a motorpool.�

Bravo Company ran the Air Forcethrough a portion of their common tasktraining. This training taught airmen how tomove from station to station via patrolformations, where they learned skills from theapplication of camouflage and self-aid buddycare to the deployment of clamor mines andconstruction of hasty fighting positions. �I feelbetter about being able to take care of our-selves with this knowledge,� said Maj TomDavison, Camp Euphoria commander.

The culmination of the Army engineeringday happened at night with a simulatedaggression scenario. Airmen and soldiers

scrambled to jointly defend their air base as asmall, 10-man opposing force team withAK-47s, hand grenades and artillery made anunsuccessful attempt to take over CampEuphoria.

But the exercise wasn�t all work and noplay. Thursday brought Sports Day to CampEuphoria, where the flight and platoonseparated back into Army and Air Forceteams. The two then competed for the firstsemi-annual Army/Air Force Sports DayCompetition trophy. Events included 5-on-5basketball, push-ups, sit-ups, wally ball and a

Members of both the 97th CES and the U.S. Army�s B Co, 62nd EngineeringBattalion pour a concrete pad for a storage shelter at the Altus ChildDevelopment Center. (Photos by Amn Richard Rose)


tug-o-war. It was a close competition, but theArmy pulled out the final victory. We�ll get �emnext time.

The exercise culminated in a boisterouscombat dining-in that built joint esprit decorps. Originally designed to be outside withwater grenades and fire hoses, it was movedinside due to the 34-degree temperature,pouring rain and high winds.

�If you asked me what the worst weatherimaginable for a dining-in would be, I�d sayyou�re looking at it,� said 1Lt Hans Anker,dining-in coordinator and Mr. Vice.

With some last minute planning, thecombat dining-in was salvaged and movedinto the Community Activities Center,complete with Grog bowls, an obstacle courseand even a live rock band. By the end of thenight, soldiers and airmen were indistinguish-able from one another as they crowded aroundthe pool and ping-pong tables.

�It�s great to see everyonecoming together with thepeople they trained withduring the week,� said LtAnker. �The interservicebarrier has completely comedown here.�

The next morning the flagwas lowered and Maj Davisonand Chief Brejcha presentedeach soldier and airman with aPrime BEEF patch and heartythanks for a job well done. �Ithink both sides got a lot outof the week,� said ChiefBrejcha. �I think this is thestart of some �good stuff �.�

1Lt James M. Eschrich is chief, contract management, 97th Civil EngineerSquadron, Altus, AFB, OK.

CMSgt Mark Brejcha goes nose to nose with U.S. ArmySSG Smith during the Sports Day push-up competition.

The Air Force Institute ofTechnology is once again offeringeight noncommissioned officers theopportunity to pursue an advancedscience, engineering or managementdegree in-residence at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH.

The goal of the Enlisted-to-AFITProgram is to provide commanderswith a diverse and renewable source ofhighly proficient and educated careerNCOs, said CMSgt Robert Hale,chief of Air Force enlisted professionalmilitary education at the Pentagon.

The program recognizes theimportant contributions that enlistedprofessional development has onenhancing the future total force,according to Lt Gen Richard E.�Tex� Brown III, deputy chief of stafffor personnel at the Pentagon.

�In conjunction with otherprofessional training and educationprograms, this advanced degreeopportunity will further develop ourNCOs� highly technical education andskills, leading to greater innovationand improved readiness,� Brown said.

NCOs interested in applying forthe 18-month program must be atleast a technical sergeant with aminimum of eight years time in

service and 12 months time onstation, and have three yearsretainability upon AFIT graduation.They must have completed theappropriate skill-level upgrade andresident professional military educa-tion schooling for their rank.

In addition, Hale said, since thisprogram is designed to provideadvanced education, applicants mustpossess a bachelor�s degree from aregionally accredited college oruniversity.

Besides academic transcripts,applicants also have to provide testscores from either the GraduateRecord Examination or GraduateManagement Admission Test,depending upon the specific AFITdegree program requirements.

Although not everyone canparticipate in this program, Halestrongly encourages enlisted membersnot to give up on pursuing advancededucation.

�There are many opportunitiesavailable for enlisted members tocontinue their education, and theyshould take advantage of them all,� hesaid. �By becoming experts in ourcareer fields, our contributionsbecome more significant, and it

AFIT Provides Advanced Degree Opportunities to NCOsenhances the professionalism of the enlistedcorps as well.�

Prospective students should contactHale at [email protected] foradditional information on Enlisted-to-AFITprogram policies, procedures, guidelinesand application process information.(SSgt A.J. Bosker, Air Force Print News)

Visit the AFCESA public website atwww.afcesa.af.mil/Library/Publications.

A-Gram List� 03-01�The MCU-2/P Protective Mask Returns to

the USAF Inventory

� 03-02�Defense Logistics Agency Maintenance,Repair, and Operations (MRO) Services Program

� 03-03�Updated Computer-basedAirfield Criteria Course

� 03-04�Bare Base Equipment Training

� 03-05�New Prime BEEF Orientation Video

� 03-06�Computer-Based Prime BEEFHome Station Training, Volume 2



� 03-09�Three-Level General ContingencyResponsibilities Course

� 03-10�Liquid Propane Aircraft Fire Training FacilityMultimedia Training Course

22 SPRING 2003

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Train like we fight � it�s more than just an Air Force philosophy at theSilver Flag exercise sites, where curriculum continues to evolve to meet theoperational requirements of our air and space force.

Silver Flag has long been a multi-career field, total force program,bringing together personnel from active duty, Guard and Reserve CivilEngineer, Services and Personnel areas. It features crew-sized training forpersonnel in selected positions on Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force(BEEF), Prime Readiness in Base Services (RIBS), and Personnel Supportfor Contingency Operations (PERSCO) teams, as well as in leadershipcontingency decision making. The curriculum places emphasis on a balanceof beddown, sustainment and recovery operations.

In addition, the program concentrates training on unique contingencyequipment (Harvest Falcon/Eagle) and assets not normally available attechnical training schools or home station. Silver Flag ensures that each PrimeBEEF/RIBS and PERSCO team has a core of highly trained and capableindividuals with the most current readiness training.

Personnel in the continental U.S. train atthe Silver Flag site owned by Air CombatCommand and operated by a cadre ofpersonnel assigned to Det. 1, 823rd REDHORSE Squadron. Overseas, U.S. AirForces in Europe operates a parallel SilverFlag site at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, andPacific Air Forces operates a Silver Flag siteat Kadena AB, Japan.

Integration = Realistic TrainingThe Chief of Staff of the Air Force

recently directed implementation of theCombat Wing Organization structure. TheChief �s vision is that �mission support inthe expeditionary, rapid reaction, contin-gency-based Air Force of today is a corecompetency.� The goal is to develop futureleaders who understand the full scope ofhome station employment/sustainment aswell as deployment, beddown and sustain-ment at contingency locations. Integrationof Mission Support Group and other AgileCombat Support functions will create asynergistic training environment throughincreased realism and enhanced cross-functional interaction.

The first person to step forward toincrease integration for ACC Silver Flag was

Silver Flag helps ensuresuccessful bare base operations

none other than the ACC CommandChief, CMSgt Dan Keane, whoapproached the staff about adding aFirst Sergeant/Command Chief blockto the curriculum. Based on feedbackfrom Operation ENDURING FREEDOM

deployments, he wanted to make sureACC was sending Command Chiefsand Shirts forward with propercontingency skills training.

�As an expeditionary Air Force,our enlisted leadership must beprepared to bed down forces andcarry out the mission immediatelyupon arrival at any deployed barebase,� said Chief Keane. �Expedition-ary Combat Support training forCommand Chiefs and First Sergeantswill provide the necessary tools andthe mindset for us to hit the groundrunning.�

The next step was the addition ofa full-time First Sergeant to the cadreat the ACC Silver Flag site, whowould double as instructor to bringkey expeditionary concepts to First

MSgt Sean Horan, 5th MaintenanceOperations Squadron, Minot AFB, ND, takespart in the expeditionary combat supporttraining for command chiefs and firstsergeants now available at the Silver Flagexercise site, Tyndall AFB, FL. (Photos byMSgt Michael A. Ward)

22 SPRING 2003

First sergeants train on contingencyequipment.


Sergeants and CommandChiefs. It took only fourmonths to get from theChief �s initial concept tothe first November 2002validation class. That firstclass was comprised ofChiefs and Shirts withrecent OEF experiencewho were asked to evaluateand provide validation ofthe curriculum. Now theTwelfth Air Force Com-mand Chief is schedulingACC Chiefs and Shirts forall future course offerings,which is proving to bevaluable training that Chiefs and Shirts didn�t get in the past.

Communications, a key Mission Support area, is the backbone of thecommand and control infrastructure at contingency locations. Currently,Comm units do not have a dedicated site for integrated expeditionarycombat support training. Very few, if any, base level Comm units get totrain on their Theater Deployable Communications equipment. To fill thisvoid, HQ ACC Civil Engineering and Communications and InformationSystems stepped forward to add Comm by the end of fiscal year 2003 tothe ACC Tyndall Silver Flag site.

The resultant leadership and team synergy added to existing CE,Services, Personnel and Shirt/Chief Silver Flag training will further meetthe CSAF�s vision. The Comm curriculum will maintain the current SilverFlag training philosophy of providing total force, specialty crew-sizecontingency skills training focused on hands-on familiarization andoperations training on key contingency equipment not available at techni-cal training schools or home station.

ACC is also considering adding the Contracting field to ACC SilverFlag to take advantage of the synergy between Contracting and the criticalCE, Services and Comm contingency activities that Contracting supports.

Building a Cohesive TeamThe goal of Silver Flag is to continue to provide hands-on experience

with low-density/high-demand bare base specialty/equipment in a truecontingency field training environment. Silver Flag training culminates ina contingency beddown/recovery exercise that integrates Mission SupportGroup commanders and their core specialties into a cohesive team toestablish command and control, conduct beddown, and perform sustain-ment and recovery operations at a forward deployed contingency location.

As ACC Silver Flag Det 1 Commander Maj Jani McCreary relates:�Silver Flag expansion and the resultant improved, integrated trainingenvironment help form a seamless, agile and responsive mission supportsystem to make a bare base operation successful, anytime, anywhere!�

Maj David Chisenhall is a program manager in the Base Support Division,Civil Engineer Directorate, HQ Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, VA.

Each year, Det. 1, 823rd RED HORSE Squadronhosts 34 sessions of hands-on training in airfieldrecovery and bare-base set up using equipment andmaterials many trainees have never used or don�t haveaccess to at their home stations.

Of the six days spent at the Silver Flag ExerciseSite, Tyndall Air Force Base, FL, students spend fourdays learning, planning and preparing for an end-of-week exercise that tests what they have learned.

They spend Monday through Wednesday in classand in the field, learning to set up and operatedeployment equipment and formulating a phasedbeddown plan for a 1,100-person, 24-aircraftoperation. The team determines utility and facilityneeds, as well as field feeding requirements, servicecontract requirements, personnel accountabilityprocedures, construction schedule, and vehicle, radioand lodging assignments.

Once the students determine how they willconstruct and operate their bare base, the commandand control staff briefs the plan to the squadron�s cadreon Wednesday afternoon. At 6 a.m. Thursday, theexercise begins and the team implements its plan.

�The goal is to be able to support 200 personnelimmediately and a larger contingency force of up to1,100 people within 72 hours,� said TSgt RobertBarnett, Det. 1, 823rd RHS command and controlinstructor. �They only have one day to complete all ofthe taskings, and it doesn�t matter how long it takes.They have to keep working until the job is done, evenif it means working until midnight.�

With 200 people moving about, operating heavyequipment and removing ordnance, safety is a bigconsideration. For this reason, students are briefed dailyabout safety concerns. During the course of theexercise, the cadre watches over the teams to ensurethey are doing their job safely.

Since coming to Tyndall in 1994, Silver Flag hasundergone many changes with respect to the waytraining is conducted. For instance, training waspreviously accomplished with only core people fromvarious active duty, Guard and Reserve units whowould, in turn, take their training home to their troops.Now, entire unit type code teams come to Silver Flagso every member will have the opportunity to use theequipment they will see in the field.

�We�re training people for real-world situations,�said CMSgt Stephen Rudat, Det. 1, 823rd RHS sitechief. �UTCs deploy as a team, so the members ofeach unit need to be trained as a team.� (From anAETC News Service article by 2Lt Albert Bosco, 325thFighter Wing public affairs)

Paves the WaySilver Flag

for Contingency Operations

MSgt Michael Hoglen, 96th Maintenance OperationSquadron, counsels SrA April Roseborough, 96thServices Squadron, both from Eglin AFB, FL,during a training exercise for first sergeants at theSilver Flag Exercise Site. In the exercise, AirmanRoseborough portrays a distraught person armedwith an explosive device.


24 SPRING 2003

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CC Solutions through teamwork �that�s the goal of Air CombatCommand�s new Civil EngineerManagement Assistance Team.CEMAT members are visiting civilengineer squadrons to review man-agement processes and offersolutions, identify best practices,share success stories and even providetraining.

Today�s CEMAT is a resurrectedand reincarnated version of CE core

headquarters teams from years past.During the mid-1970s and early1980s, Headquarters Air Force andseveral major commands formallyestablished Civil Engineering Man-agement Evaluation Teams and later,Civil Engineering and ServicesManagement Evaluation Teams.

CEMET visits were conducted toassess day-to-day operation andmanagement of civil engineersquadrons and ensure that requiredCE manpower was properly justifiedfor new initiatives. CESMET cameinto being shortly after the merger ofCivil Engineering and Services. Its

objective was to promote the sensibil-ity of the merger to wing leadershipand ensure proper use of resources.However, by the mid-1980s achanging Air Force focus led todiscontinuation of the CESMETprocess at Air Staff level, and iteventually disappeared as an engineer-ing and services management tool.

By the late 1990s Air Force CivilEngineering was a much differentforce than it was during the Cold Warera. Base closures, manpowerreductions, organizational realign-ments and privatization effortsresulted in a much smaller force, inmany cases exacerbating the chal-lenges associated with infrastructuremanagement. In an effort to makethis smaller force as efficient aspossible and promote sound manage-ment practices, Pacific Air Forcesresurrected the CEMAT concept in2000. PACAF structured its CEMATconcept of operations around areview of CE unit compliancechecklists. Benchmarking offPACAF�s lead, ACC also instituted acommand CEMAT, publishing itsconcept of operations in late 2001and beginning base visits in February2002.

ACC�s CEMAT effort providesmanagement assistance, via a team offunctional experts, to CE squadronpersonnel, primarily in the operationsand engineering flights. Its purpose isto review management processes,identify best practices, share successstories and provide recommendationson how to improve operationalperformance. The core team, led bythe deputy chief of the ACC Opera-tions and Infrastructure Division,consists of functional experts from theOperations, Programs and Construc-tion Divisions. Representatives fromother divisions are added at the base�srequest.

CEMAT�s objective evaluation ofa squadron�s performance includeson-the-spot training and/or recom-

mendations to improve managementprocesses. In addition, the teamhighlights best practices and com-mendable items that arerecommended for adoption across thecommand.

Visits are ideally scheduledwithin the first few months of a newsquadron commander�s arrival. Thisallows the commander to develop asense of what areas may need assis-tance. The visits typically last a weekand are kept very informal. A table-top out-brief is provided to the CEsquadron commander at the end ofthe week, and no follow-up action isrequired to close any of the itemsaddressed. ACC�s goal is to visit eachbase on a two-year cycle, coincidingwith the typical commander�s tenure.

With eight bases visited so far,results to date are very promising.The ACC CEMAT team identified 17best practices in the first year,including use of commercial solicita-tions to reduce bid times andimprove coordination with electronicrouting; employment of co-opstudents in non-traditional roles(resources and environmental); use ofFacility Maintenance Teams to sustainhigh-use, high-visibility facilities; andthe innovative use of emergingtechnologies to improve the efficiencyof facility management practices.Additionally, the team identifiedseveral common trends to be ad-dressed at the headquarters levelconcerning training shortfalls,excessive civilian personnel lapse ratesand an aging vehicle fleet.

The CEMAT initiative is a win-win concept for the command andCE squadron commanders alike. It ispaying great dividends by validatingour business practices and ensuringour processes are being executed inan effective manner.

William L. Luthie is a CEMAT teammember in the Operations Branch, HQ AirCombat Command, Langley AFB, VA.

ACC reincarnates its management evaluation team

Newly assigned commanders are laudingthe objectivity that CEMAT�s outside per-spective offers. As Lt Col Scott Jarvis, 366thCES commander, Mountain Home AFB, ID,commented to Brig Gen Patrick Burns, theACC Civil Engineer:

“…CEMAT proved extremely worthwhile… they highlighted some issues that we wereaware of, but in addition, uncovered manyother items that we were not … their exper-tise and hard work will bear fruit here atMountain Home. The timing was great andI highly recommend the effort for the rest ofthe command!”

For more information, log on to theACC CEMAT website:

https://ce.acc.af.mil/CEO/CEMAT/CEMAT%20web%20page.htm


EducationContinuingContinuing

Course No. Title Off Start Dates Grad DatesMGT 101 Intro. to Base Civil Engineer Organization 03C 07-Jul 30-AugENV 521 (S) Hazardous Waste Management 03B 14-Jul 18-JulMGT 423 (S) Project Programming 03C 28-Jul 08-AugENG 470 (S) Electrical Systems for Managers 03A 04-Aug 08-AugENG 520 (S) Comprehensive Planning Development 03A 11-Aug 22-AugMGT 444 (S) Competitive Sourcing 03A 18-Aug 22-AugENG 555 (S) Airfield Pavement Construction Inspection 03B 25-Aug 29-AugSeminar (S) Energy Savings Performance Contract 03D 26-Aug 26-AugMGT 102 Intro. to Base Civil Engineer Organization for 03B 15-Sep 26-Sep

Reserve ForcesENG 460 (S) Mechanical Systems for Managers 03A 15-Sep 18-Sep

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lRegistration forresident courses,which are offered atWright-PattersonAFB, OH, beginsapproximately 90days in advance.Applications mustgo through thestudent�s MAJCOMTraining Manager.Registration for thesatellite offerings,marked with an (S),closes 30 daysbefore broadcast.For satellite registra-tion, courseinformation, or acurrent list of classdates, visit theCESS website at:http://cess.afit.edu.Sheppard AFB, TX

Course No. Title Start Dates Grad DatesJ3AZR3E051-007 Airfield Lighting 11-Aug/10-Sep 20-Aug/19-SepJ3AZR3E051-008 Electrical Distribution Sys. Maint. 14-Jul/11-Aug/15-Sep 08-Aug/08-Sep/10-OctJ3AZR3E051-010 Bare Base Electrical Systems 16-Sep 29-SepJ3AZR3E051-012 Fire Alarm Systems 03-Sep 26-SepJ3AZR3E051-013 Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) 09-Sept 26-SepJ3AZR3E071-001 CE Adv. Elec. Troubleshooting 28-Jul/25-Aug/24-Sep 22-Aug/22-Sep/22-OctJ3AZR3E472-000 Liq. Fuels Storage Tank Entry Spvsr. 16-Sep 26-SepJ3AZR3E472-001 Liq. Fuels Sys. Maintenance Tech. 09-Sep 22-SepJ3AZR3E451-004 Fire Suppression Systems Maint. 18-Jul/11-Aug/08-Sep 07-Aug/29-Aug/26-SepJ3AZR3E471-101 Bare Base Water Purification and 16-Jul/30-Jul/13-Aug/10-Sep 25-Jul/08-Aug/22-Aug/19-Sep

Distribution SystemsJ3AZR3E453-003 Pest Management Certification 15-Sep 10-OctJ3ARR3E453-002 Pest Management Re-Certification 28-Jul/18-Aug/22-Sep 01-Aug/22-Aug/26-SepJ3AZR3E052-013 CE Advanced Electronics 07-Jul/04-Aug/04-Sep 01-Aug/29-Aug/01-OctJ3AZR3E072-002 Troubleshoot. Elec. Power Gen. Eq. 14-Jul/05-Aug/27-Aug/19-Sep 04-Aug/26-Aug/18-Sep/10-OctJ3AZR3E072-113 Bare Base Power Generation 04-Aug 28-AugJ3AZR3E151-013 HVAC/R Controls Systems 07-Jul/11-Aug/17-Sep 08-Aug/15-Sep/22-OctJ3AZR3E151-014 Direct Expansion Systems 11-Aug/29-Sep 11-Sep/30-OctJ3AZR3E151-015 Indirect Expansion Systems 08-Jul/29-Jul/12-Sep 25-Jul/15-Aug/01-OctJ3AZR3E050-001 CE Work Estimating 08-Sep 26-Sep

Course No. Title Start Dates Grad DatesJ3AZP3E571-003 Engineering Design 18 Aug 29-AugJ3AZP3E571-004 Construction Surveying 14-Jul/04-Aug/08-Sep 25-Jul/15-Aug/19-SepJ3AZP3E971-003 Advanced Readiness 14-Jul/11-Aug/15-Sep 18-Jul/15-Aug/19-SepJ3AZP3E971-005 NBC Cell Operations 21-Jul/08-Sep 25-Jul/12-Sep

Course No. Title Start Dates Grad DatesJ5AZN3E871-001 Adv. Access and Disablement 14-Jul/04-Aug/25-Aug/15-Sep 25-Jul/15-Aug/08-Sep/26-SepJ5AZN3E871-002 Advanced EOD Course 14-Jul/04-Aug 25-Jul/15-Aug

Course No. Title Start Dates Grad DatesJ3AZP3E351-001 Low Slope Maint. & Repair 07-Jul/18-Aug/15-Sep 17-Jul/28-Aug/25-SepJ3AZP3E351-002 Fabrication Welded Pipe Joints 04-Aug/08-Sep 15-Aug/19-SepJ3AZP3E351-003 Metals Layout Fab. & Welding 14-Jul/14-Aug/15-Sep 31-Jul/28-Aug/02-Oct

Ft. Leonard Wood, MO

Indian Head, MD

Gulfport, MS

Additional course information is available on the 366th TRS website at https://webm.sheppard.af.mil/366trs/default.htm.Students may enroll on a space-available basis up until the class� start date by contacting their unit training manager.

Wright-Patterson AFB, OH

26 SPRING 2003

CE WorldCE World

As the United States� prepara-tions for disarming Iraq of itsweapons of mass destruction shiftedinto high gear, Air Force civilengineer leaders met at the Air ForceCivil Engineer Support Agency,Tyndall Air Force Base, FL, inDecember 2002 to review progressand plan for the future.

The CAF ConvenesOn Dec. 2, Brig Gen Patrick A.

Burns, the Air Combat CommandCivil Engineer, convened the CombatAir Forces Civil Engineer (A7)Council. The A7 Council is com-prised of members from Air CombatCommand, Pacific Air Forces, UnitedStates Air Forces in Europe, AirForce Space Command, Air ForceSpecial Operations Command, AirEducation and Training Command,Air Force Reserve Command, andAir National Guard. Members of

structure, the CAF civil engineersserve in an advisory capacity to theAir Force Civil Engineer ReadinessBoard and the Program ReviewCommittee.

The CAF CE Council serves asthe forum to introduce, review anddiscuss civil engineer topics ofconcern to the CAF, and to carryissues forward to decision-makingorganizations within the CE commu-nity. The Council focuses onCAF-specific topics, including theExpeditionary Air and Space Force;fielding forces; research, develop-ment, acquisition and systemintegration; readiness training;organization; manning; and employ-ment concepts. After reviewing andapproving the CAF CE A7 charter,the council received briefings onconstruction in Southwest Asia, anew Air Force Contract Augmenta-tion Program solicitation, Air and

expeditionarycombat sup-port, AirborneRED HORSE,

and several othercivil engineer

operational issues.

Senior Leaders MeetingOn Dec. 3, Maj Gen Earnest O.

Robbins II, The Civil Engineer,convened a four-day meeting of AirForce civil engineer senior leaders atthe Tyndall AFB Conference Center.

Following a welcome by ColBruce R. Barthold, the AFCESAcommander, Lt Gen Michael E.Zettler, the Air Force Deputy Chief ofStaff for Installations and Logistics,presented the Air Force�s expedition-ary perspective. He urgedparticipants to lead first and alwaysthink �expeditionary,� take care oftheir people, and use the week tomap out the way ahead. He observedthat now is the time for �unconven-

tional wisdom.�Following opening com-

ments by Maj Gen Robbins anda review of CE worldwideaction items, the senior leadersaddressed a comprehensive listof topics, including currentprograms, enlisted issues, mid-level officer professionaldevelopment, housing excel-lence, basing issues, the MilitaryConstruction Program, realproperty maintenance, Opera-tion ENDURING FREEDOM lessonslearned, expeditionary engineer-ing and emergency services,environmental concerns,strategic sourcing and utilitiesprivatization.

In addition, Mr. Nelson F.Gibbs, Assistant Secretary of theAir Force for Installations,Logistics and Environment,presented views from his office,

and Maj Gen Carl A. Strock, Directorof Military Programs, Army Corps ofEngineers, gave his perspective onArmy installation management.(Dr. Doug Merkle, HQ AFCESA)

26 SPRING 2003

CE Leaders Meet to Review Progressand Plan for the FutureCE Leaders Meet to Review Progressand Plan for the Future

Air Force civil engineering�s senior leaders met in December to address the career field�s hot topics.

AFCESA and HQ USAF/ILE�s CEReadiness Division serve as advisors.

Since 1999, civil engineers fromCAF MAJCOMs have met as acorporate body to address commonconcerns primarily related to �warfighting� issues. In a hierarchical

Space Expeditionary Force Cycle 4status under the CSAF two-hit policy,a Force Module Framework fordefining expeditionary capability,employment of the GeoBase/GeoReach system, operationalconcepts for an NBC environment,


Air Force civil engineers playedan active role in recovery effortsfollowing the tragic loss of the SpaceShuttle Columbia on Feb. 1.

The day of the disaster, the 2ndCivil Engineer Squadron fromBarksdale Air Force Base, LA, de-ployed a 70-person disaster assistanceteam to Lufkin, TX, at the request ofthe Texas Department of Public Safety.They were the first federal agency onscene and quickly set up a mini-Disaster Control Group to assist localofficials. The multi-functional teamincluded an on-scene commander andrepresentatives from fire, explosiveordnance disposal, readiness, survey-ing, contracting and legal.

The 2nd CES EOD Flight hadexisting technical data for the Shuttleorbital vehicle on hand, and deployedpersonnel were able to act as advisorsto local fire and law enforcementofficials. They educated local re-sponders on hazards associated withShuttle debris and helped evaluatepieces as they were located.

As the National Aeronautics andSpace Administration and the FederalEmergency Management Agencyarrived on scene and assumedcontrol, the team from Barksdalescaled back its operations andreturned home on Feb. 3 and 4.

Back at Barksdale, members ofthe 2nd CES rallied to preparefacilities critical to the recovery andinvestigation. The Base Supplymobility processing facility, whichhad recently been reconfigured for anArticle 32 hearing, became theaccident investigation headquartersand command center. A portion of amulti-aircraft B-52 hangar was set upas a temporary mortuary facility, withCE providing generators, lights, andelectrical locks for security. NoseDock 6, normally used for B-52maintenance, was prepared for use asthe primary NASA/FEMA recoverycenter. CE thoroughly cleaned thebuilding, sanitized hoists, provided

CEs Aid inSpace Shuttle Columbia

Recoveryadditional lighting and electricalpanels, and installed hangar doorrails for security purposes. Heavyduty plastic was spread over thefloor to provide a surface forlaying out debris.

On Feb. 4 the seven-personEOD team that would perform thebulk of the recovery and advisorywork in Texas hit the groundrunning at Barksdale. Headed bythe EOD functional manager fromHeadquarters Air Force SpaceCommand, SMSgt Rocky Dunlap,and comprised of six EODmembers from Patrick AFB, FL,the team organized into three, two-person teams and officially acceptedresponsibility for recovery operationsfrom the 2nd CES EOD Flight.

At the outset, two teams reportedfor duty in Texas and the third teamremained at Barksdale to supervisethe inspection of shuttle debrisarriving at Nose Dock 6. The fieldteams worked long hours, fromsunup to sundown, responding toreports of debris suspected to con-tain, or to have come in contact with,explosives or explosive devices.Rough terrain, cold weather and rainmixed with sleet or snow for days onend made their jobs long and uncom-fortable. In the words of team leaderSMSgt Dunlap, �EOD responses toShuttle material continue to be in thethickest of briar patches, swampiestmarshes and dense foliage.�

With the addition of some 2,000Department of Forestry and firefighter search workers in mid-February, the EOD team becameheavily involved in providing safetybriefings and explosives identificationtraining for all search teams. Theycreated a traveling identificationboard that featured inert mock-ups ofthe items they had found and antici-pated finding. They also printed upand distributed color photographs ofexplosive devices associated with theShuttle.

Eventually, all three two-personteams were stationed in Texas, withsearch efforts focused on a 10-mile by240-mile corridor beneath the Shuttleflight path from Ellis County southeastof Fort Worth to the Toledo BendReservoir. At the height of the opera-tion there were more than 70 state,federal, and private agencies involvedin the effort, with more than 5,250workers mobilized to assist. The EODteams were engaged in supportingefforts on the ground, in the air, andunder water, with approximately 45aircraft and helicopters and 66 diversand sonar teams assisting in the search.

By mid-March over 44,000 lineitems of debris had been identified,catalogued, and prepared for shipmentfrom Barksdale to the Kennedy SpaceCenter. Explosive items were stored ina special munitions bunker on baseuntil proper disposition or disposalarrangements could be coordinatedwith NASA.

The members of the EODShuttle recovery team who servedwithout rotation from Feb. 5 are:SMSgt Rocky Dunlap, HQ AFSPC,and SSgt John Carroll, SSgt MikeChamberlain, SrA Marlon Mitchell,SSgt Alan Powel1, TSgt GeorgePrice, and TSgt Brett Rogers, all ofthe 45th CES, Patrick AFB, FL.(Lois Walker, HQ AFCESA Historian)

SSgt Allan Powell, 45th CES, uses a Global PositioningSystem during Space Shuttle Columbia recoveryoperations. More than 5,000 ground search team memberssearched remote areas, marking questionable debris with aGPS coordinate for further investigation by the EOD team.(Photo by SSgt John Carroll)

28 SPRING 2003

A four-person team of U.S. military pave-ments experts participated in a Mil-to-Mil visitto Bulgaria from Feb. 2-9. The primary objec-tive of the visit was to familiarize theirBulgarian military counterparts with how theU.S. upgrades airfields to meet U.S. and NATOstandards. A highlight of the visit was theexchange of information on U.S. Air Forceorganizational structure and how squadrons areresponsible for airfield maintenance and airfielddamage repair.

MSgt Brian Richardson, HQ United StatesAir Forces in Europe Command PavementsSuperintendent, organized the visit on behalf ofHQ USAFE Plans and Programs and U.S.European Command. Joining him on the tripwere Mr. James Greene of the Air Force CivilEngineer Support Agency and two engineersfrom the Army Corps of Engineers EngineerResearch and Development Center: Dr. RaymondRollings from the Cold Regions Research andEngineering Laboratory and Mr. Don Alexanderfrom the Waterways Experiment Station.

CEs in Joint Contact Team Program With Bulgaria

Civil EngineersDisarm Crashed F�16

The team traveled to Sophia,Plovdiv and Yambol, Bulgaria, tobrief the Bulgarian Air Staff andleaders from Graf Ignatievo Air Baseand Bezmer AB on various airfieldtopics. The Bulgarian staff at eachlocation was thrilled with the presen-tations and felt the Mil-to-Mil visitwas a glowing success. Since Bul-garia has been invited to join NATOin 2004, military leaders have takenaggressive steps to modernize threeairfields to ensure interoperabilitywith NATO.

Mil-to-Mil visits are conductedunder the Joint Military ContactProgram, which is sponsored by theChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffand administered by U.S. European

Command. The program was initiallydeveloped in May 1992 for Poland,Hungary and Czechoslovakia.Although expected to last only sixmonths, it has now been going strongfor over a decade and includes severalcountries � Latvia, Estonia,Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Hungary,the Czech Republic, Slovakia,Croatia, Albania, Macedonia, Roma-nia and Bulgaria.

The goal of Mil-to-Mil visits is tohelp the military forces of thesenations develop into positive, con-structive elements of society duringtheir transitions to democracy and freemarket economies. (MSgt BrianRichardson, Command PavementsSuperintendent, HQ USAFE)

Air Force explosive ordnance disposalmembers helped recover an armed Norwegianaircraft that crashed while attempting to landat Ganci Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, in December.

The Norwegian F�16�s main struts col-lapsed as it touched down Dec. 17. Crews hadless than 10 minutes to remove the aircraftbefore two other F�16s, which were short onfuel and unable to divert, were scheduled to land.

Two EOD technicians from the 376thExpeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron atGanci responded to the crash and begin safingthe aircraft�s weapons when they noticed aslight ammonia odor � a signal that a weaponmay have been damaged. After conferringwith the on-scene commander and furtherexamining the aircraft, they determined thatonly the weapon�s external power unit hadfired, and that the weapons were safe.

Because the aircraft�s landing gear wasdamaged in the crash, emergency crews hadplanned to hook the plane to a tug and drag itacross the airfield to clear the runway for theinbound F�16s. The EOD team insteadrecommended leaving the aircaft in place,safing the munitions and then removing them.

Officials agreed, and the inboundF�16s were able to land and stopshort while the EOD team disarmedthe aircraft. (MSgt Michael A. Ward,HQ AFCESA Public Affairs)

EOD technicians performed safingoperations on an armed Norwegian F�16

after it crashed on the runway at Ganci AB,Kyrgyzstan. (Photo courtesy 376th EOD)

U.S. military pavements experts Dr. Raymond Rollings (front row, second from left),MSgt Brian Richardson (front row center), Mr. James Greene and Dr. DonAlexander (second row center, respectively) visited with counterparts in theBulgarian military recently to provide information on upgrading airfields to meetU.S. and NATO standards. (AFCESA photo)


AwardsAwards2002 Air Force Civil Engineer

Lt Gen Michael E. Zettler, Deputy

Chief of Staff for Installations and

Logistics, Headquarters U.S. Air Force,

has announced the recipients of the 2002

Air Force Civil Engineer Awards. The

awards were presented Feb. 19, during

National Engineers Week, at the 41st

annual Civil Engineer Awards Luncheon,

Bolling Air Force Base, Washington DC.

The Balchen/Post winner was recognized

at the 37th annual International Aviation

Snow Symposium, May 3-7, in Buffalo,

NY. Following are the winners (in bold)

and runners-up.

Outstanding Civil Engineer UnitAward and The Society ofAmerican Military EngineersCurtin AwardLarge Unit86 CEG, Ramstein AB, Germany(USAFE)

Small Unit43 CES, Pope AFB, NC (AMC)

Brigadier General Michael A.McAuliffe Award (Housing Flight)7 CES, Dyess AFB, TX (ACC)341 CES, Malmstrom AFB, MT(AFSPC)

Major General Robert C. ThompsonAward (Resources Flight)37 CES, Lackland AFB, TX (AETC)100 CES, RAF Mildenhall, UK(USAFE)

Brigadier General Archie S.Mayes Award (Engineering Flight)366 CES, Mountain Home AFB, ID(ACC)319 CES, Grand Forks AFB, ND(AMC)

Major General Clifton D. WrightAward (Operations Flight)437 CES, Charleston AFB, SC(AMC)341 CES, Malmstrom AFB, MT(AFSPC)

Chief Master Sergeant Ralph E.Sanborn Award (Fire ProtectionFlight)18 CES, Kadena AB, Japan(PACAF)99 CES, Nellis AFB, NV (ACC)

Senior Master Sergeant Gerald J.Stryzak Award (EOD Flight)18 CES, Kadena AB, Japan(PACAF)56 CES, Luke AFB, AZ (AETC)

Colonel Frederick J. RiemerAward (Readiness Flight)305 CES, McGuire AFB, NJ (AMC)18 CES, Kadena AB, Japan(PACAF)

Environmental Flight Award56 CES, Luke AFB, AZ (AETC)437 CES, Charleston AFB, SC(AMC)

The Society of American MilitaryEngineers Newman MedalCol James T. Ryburn, HQ ACC,Langley AFB, VA (ACC)Col Paul W. Somers, 75 CEG, HillAFB, UT (AFMC)

The Society of American MilitaryEngineers Goddard MedalActive DutyMSgt Allen E. Jedlicki, 49 MMS,Holloman AFB, NM (ACC)SMSgt William W. Shelton, HQAETC, Randolph AFB, TX (AETC)

Air Force ReserveSMSgt Larry P. Lomax, HQAFCESA, Tyndall AFB, FL(AFCESA)

Air National GuardCMSgt Kenneth C. Wolf, 179 CES,Mansfield Lahm Airport, OH (ANG)

The Society of American MilitaryEngineers TechnologyAdvancement MedalMr. Phillip C. McMillan, 75 CEG,Hill AFB, UT (AFMC)

Major General Joseph A. AhearnEnlisted Leadership AwardCMSgt James A. Martin, 18 CES,Kadena AB, Japan (PACAF)CMSgt Jeffrey A. Karls, 52 CES,Spangdahlem AB, Germany (USAFE)

The Harry P. Rietman Award(Senior Civilian Manager)Michael R. Toriello, 355 CES,Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ (ACC)Glenn W. Easterby, 437 CES,Charleston AFB, SC (AMC)

Major General Augustus M. MintonAward (Outstanding Air Force CivilEngineer magazine article)Ms. Teresa M. Bracher, 45 CES,Patrick AFB, FL (AFSPC)Mr. Creighton A. Lee, 15 CES,Hickam AFB, HI (PACAF)

Major General William D. GilbertAwardOfficerCapt Charles D. Perham, HQACC, Langley AFB, VA (ACC)Capt Marvin T. Ee, HQ AETC,Randolph AFB, TX (AETC)

EnlistedMSgt Troy D. Odden, Seventh AirForce, Osan AB, Korea (PACAF)CMSgt Timothy J. Seigal Sr., HQACC, Langley AFB, VA (ACC)

CivilianSheila Schwartz, HQ AMC, ScottAFB, IL (AMC)Jack C. Bush, HQ USAF,Washington DC (USAF)


30 SPRING 2003

Major General Eugene A. LupiaAwardMilitary ManagerCapt Christine Y. Rilovick, 775CES, Hill AFB, UT (AFMC)1st Lt Kristen D. Bakotic, 15 CES,Hickam AFB, HI (PACAF)

Military TechnicianTSgt Max B. Babbitt, 9 CES,Beale AFB, CA (ACC)TSgt Charles F. Jenkins, 436 CES,Dover AFB, DE (AMC)

Chief Master Sergeant Larry R.Daniels Award (MilitarySuperintendent)SMSgt Kevin N. Remedies, 86CES, Ramstein AB, Germany(USAFE)SMSgt Benjamin E. Brooks, 18CES, Kadena AB, Japan (PACAF)

Outstanding Civil EngineerSenior Military ManagerLt Col Michael P. Conner, 823RHS, Hurlburt Field, FL (ACC)Lt Col Maria J. Dowling, 437 CES,Charleston AFB, SC (AMC)

Outstanding Civil EngineerCivilian ManagerSteven A. Robertson, 305 CES,McGuire AFB, NJ (AMC)Malinda G. Mathews, 2 CES,Barksdale AFB, LA (ACC)

Outstanding Civil EngineerCivilian SupervisorColin X. King, 48 CES, RAFLakenheath, UK (USAFE)John W. Melvin Jr., 436 CES, DoverAFB, DE (AMC)

Outstanding Civil EngineerCivilian TechnicianPaul A. Claydon, 48 CES, RAFLakenheath, UK (USAFE)Kimberly C. Hurt, 28 CES, EllsworthAFB, SD (ACC)

Outstanding Civil EngineerIndividual MobilizationAugmenteeOfficer ManagerMaj James E. Lehman, 4 CES,Seymour Johnson AFB, NC (ACC)Maj William B. Harris III, 43 CES,Pope AFB, NC (AMC)

Enlisted ManagerMSgt Karen D. Craft, 347 CES,Moody AFB, GA (ACC)CMSgt Leonard Apo, HQ PACAF,Hickam AFB, HI (PACAF)

Mission: The 43rd CES is responsible for thecomplete support of all facilities and infrastructurelocated on Pope AFB; trains base personnel oncontingency response todisasters, both natural andman-made; provides the fullspectrum of emergencyservices from fire/rescue toexplosive ordnance dis-posal; and delivers combatsupport to contingencylocations worldwide.

Unique Requirements: Pope AFB directlysupports the 18th Airborne Corps and the 82ndAirborne Division at Fort Bragg. We literally putthe �Air� in �Airborne.� The base is home to twoC-130 squadrons, the only active duty tacticalaeromedical evacuation squadron, and seven majortenant units including two A-10 squadrons,the18th Air Support Operations Group, the AirForce Combat Control School, and the 53rd AerialPort Squadron (Reserve unit).

Recent Accomplishments: Winner of the2002 Air Force Outstanding Civil Engineer UnitAward, small unit category, �Let�s Roll!� was thecheer from the 43rd CES as it deployed 92 troopslast year in support of Operations ENDURING

FREEDOM and NOBLE EAGLE. The deployed teamsexecuted 500 work orders worth $300,000 in only90 days, replaced an entire tent city with Alaskanshelters in Diego Garcia, provided crash/rescue

43rd Civil Engineer Squadronsupport at numerous overseaslocations, and eliminated dangerousstockpiles of munitions by disposingof 2,617 ordnance items in theMiddle East.

At home, the squadron led a $7.1million repair of the busiest runwayin the command, milling and overlay-ing the main landing area and assaultstrip, correcting major drainageissues and replacing critical airfieldlighting systems, all in less than 30days using four major contracts andin-house forces. The 43rd CESexecuted the best year-end in its 82-year history, awarding more than 30projects valued at $21.3 million torepair some of the worst infrastruc-ture in AMC. It also kept on trackand within the Congressionally Notedbudget a project to whole-houserenovate 1933 vintage general officer/senior officer quarters.

Pope was selected as the first airforce base to build a quad conceptdormitory, which the 43rd CESpartnered with the command designteam and others to develop. TheOperations Flight�s $2.3 millionperformance-based statement of workpackage for the base custodial service

contract was chosen as the mostsuccessful statement of work in DoD,and will be used as a benchmark forother DoD installations.

Pope continues to maintain anoutstanding record with state envi-ronmental regulators, garneringkudos for its air quality program.Leading the way in DoD-sponsoredchemical/biological attack responseand recovery programs, Pope is oneof three Air Force bases worldwidechosen to participate in the JointService Installation Pilot Program.

�Excellence is Boundless!� iswritten on the squadron flag, whichflies proudly outside the CE com-pound. Ask any 43rd CES memberand they�ll tell you it�s not just a motto� it�s a fact.

2002 Outstanding Civil Engineer Units

Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit: 43rd Airlift Wing(Air Mobility Command)

Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Pope Air Force Base, NC

Commander:Commander:Commander:Commander:Commander:Lt Col James E. Welter

Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:250 military and100 civilians

Curtin Award Winners

AIR FORCE CIVIL ENGINEER 31AIR FORCE CIVIL ENGINEER 31

Outstanding Community PlannerMichael T. Flahive, HQ AMC,Scott AFB, IL (AMC)Stacie Y. Kaneshiro, 15 CES,Hickam AFB, HI (PACAF)

Balchen/Post Award (Snow andIce Removal)3 CES, Elmendorf AFB, AK(PACAF)92 CES, Fairchild AFB, WA (AMC)

2003 Air Force National Societyof Professional EngineersFederal Engineer of the YearMilitaryLt Col Gary D. Chesley, HQ ACC,Langley AFB, VA (ACC)

CivilianJames L. Greene, HQ AFCESA,Tyndall AFB, FL (AFCESA)

Mission: Provide, maintain andprotect real property assigned to the86th Airlift Wing, the KaiserslauternMilitary Community and associatedunits whilesupportingworldwidecontingencieswith trainedcombatengineers andequipment.

UniqueRequirements: Ramstein AB islocated near the cities of Ramsteinand Kaiserslautern, Germany, and ishome to the 86th Airlift Wing,Headquarters USAFE and Head-quarters AIRNORTH. The 86thCEG maintains over 21.3 millionsquare feet of real property, 1,766facilities and over 5,000 housingunits on 5,144 acres at Ramstein,Sembach, Einsiedlerhof, Kapaun,Landstuhl, Vogelweh and 20 geo-graphically separated units.

Recent Accomplishments: The86th CEG conquered numerouschallenges in 2002. The groupexcelled in readiness, deploying 174engineers to 12 separate AEF andOEF locations. Members built a76,000-square foot pallet assemblyarea to organize and fill special

The Group protects the largest number ofAmericans living outside the United States, over43,000 military, civilians and family members.Readiness, EOD and firefighters assigned toseven fire stations are ready at a moment�s noticeto handle any emergency. CEG troops respondedto two major aircraft crashes and numerous�white powder� responses throughout Germany.

Recent Awards: The 86th CEG earnedthree Air Force-level awards for outstandingmission accomplishment in 2002: the Air ForceOutstanding Civil Engineer Unit Award (largeunit category), the CMSgt Larry R. DanielsOutstanding Military Superintendent Award andthe General Thomas D. White EnvironmentalQuality Award for Overseas. In addition, thegroup won seven USAFE-level CE awards, twoUSAFE-level annual personnel awards, 11 wing-level awardsand six PMEawards. The86th CEG isproud to chantits mottowhenever andwhereverpossible;�Biggest,Busiest, Best!�

containers used to drop 2.5 millionhumanitarian daily rations intoAfghanistan. It also supported 40nations participating in the world�slargest communications exercise,COMBINED ENDEAVOR.

Huge construction efforts dotthe local landscape as civil engineersmanage $2 billion covering fourmajor construction programs. Theyare continuing the conversion ofRamstein from a fighter base to anairlift base through $150 million infacility construction. An additional$384 million in airfield projectscontinued transforming Ramsteininto EUCOM�s premier strategicairlift hub and �Gateway to Europe.�The quality of housing saw a majorboost with the completion of the firstphase of a $600 million, 10-yearrenovation program.

The perennial award-winningEnvironmental Flight managedUSAFE�s largest restoration pro-gram, completed restoration work on36 contaminated sites and pro-grammed $15.6 million to restore thebase�s final 27 sites. The flight alsomanages the command�s largestrecycling program, salvaging 15million pounds, equal to 46 percentof the Kaiserslautern MilitaryCommunity�s trash.

Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit: 86th Airlift Wing(U.S. Air Forces in Europe)

Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Ramstein Air Base, Germany

Group Commander:Group Commander:Group Commander:Group Commander:Group Commander:Col Jeffrey L. Leptrone;86 CES Commander,Lt Col Steve Bradshaw;786 CES Commander,Lt Col Shane Stegman

Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:535 military, 720 localnationals, 97 U.S. civilians

86th Civil Engineer Group

(Above) TSgt Perry Mooney, Dover AFB, DE,shows a family day visitor the video cameraon an explosive ordnance disposal robot.(Inset) MSgt Ken Jordan, commandgeointegration manager for Air CombatCommand, exhibits GeoReach equipmentduring Engineers Week Family Day.

CMSgt Jim Podolske, Air Force Civil EngineerSupport Agency, gives an interactive fire safetytest to several visitors during Engineers WeekFamily Day in Washington D.C. Feb. 15.

32 SPRING 2003

The Air Force Chief of Staff announced inDecember the winners of the 2002 GeneralThomas D. White Environmental Awards, whichrecognize outstanding efforts to preserve andenhance the environment. All but two of thewinners will compete for the Secretary of DefenseEnvironmental Security Awards in the samecategories. There were no equivalent awards forthe Environmental Quality (Reserve Component)and National Environmental Policy Act categoriesat the DoD level. An award presentation cer-emony was held at the Pentagon May 7.(Gil Dominguez, HQ Air Force Center for Environ-mental Excellence public affairs)

Environmental Quality Award(Industrial)Tinker AFB, OK (AFMC)Reserve Component177 Fighter Wing, Atlantic City, NJ,International Airport (ANG)OverseasRamstein AB, Germany (USAFE)

Pollution Prevention Award(Non-Industrial)Eglin AFB, FL (AFMC)

Pollution Prevention Award(Individual/Team Excellence)Robins AFB, GA (AFMC)

Cultural Resources ManagementAward (All Installations)611 CES, Elmendorf AFB, AK(PACAF)

Cultural Resources ManagementAward (Individual/Team Excellence)Karlene B. Leeper, 611 CES,Elmendorf AFB (PACAF)

Natural Resources ConservationAward (Large Base)Patrick AFB, FL (AFSPC)

National Environmental PolicyAct Award (Team Excellence)Andrews AFB, MD (AMC), andLangley AFB, VA (ACC)

Major General Augustus M. Minton 1911-2003

Environmental Award Winners

Maj Gen (ret.) Augustus M. �Gus� Minton,former Director of Civil Engineering from 1957 to1963, died Jan. 2 in Bradenton, FL. He was 91.

During his six years as Director, GeneralMinton played a pivotal role in establishing thestructure and mission of Air Force civil engineer-ing as we know it today. He took great interest inthe professional development of engineers andplaced emphasis on professional registration andthe development of professional training facilities.He was responsible for the functional name changefrom Air Installations to Civil Engineering, and hefounded Air Force Civil Engineer magazine.

As Director, he oversaw completion of theU.S. Air Force Academy, construction of facilitiesto field the country�s first intercontinental ballisticmissiles, and a vast increase in Air Force familyhousing under the Capehart program. He devel-oped an effective strategy for programmingconstruction programs and for presenting anddefending them before Congress, earning him therespect and admiration of civil engineers andCongressmen alike.

Born in 1911, General Minton was commis-sioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Corps ofEngineers in 1933. He was an officer at theCivilian Conservation Corps camp at FortSheridan, IL, and helped respond to the tragicflood on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers in1937.

During World War II, he served with Army AirForces Training Command. He talked about thetime when training officials took over all the hotelsin Miami Beach, FL, to accommodate the trainingmission. General Minton hosted a meeting chairedby Vice President Harry S. Truman to ensure theArmy Air Forces got the support it required.

Following the war, the generalserved as the deputy chief of staff ofadministration for Twentieth AirForce in Guam. After earning amaster�s degree at Harvard BusinessSchool, he served two years as acomptroller in Alaska. From Alaskahe returned to the training world,serving as Chief of Staff at HQ AirTraining Command from 1951 to1954 and later as base commander atChanute Air Force Base, IL.

General Minton�s six-year tenureas Director of Installations turned outto be the longest of any Air ForceCivil Engineer to date. That enabledhim, together with such Air Forceleaders such as Chiefs of Staff GenThomas D. White and Gen CurtisLeMay, to have a major impact on thedevelopment and contributions of AirForce civil engineering.

One creative initiative of his wasestablishment of the �Cool School,�an annual tour of northern tier basesdesigned to expose academic andcorporate engineers to the challengesAir Force civil engineers faced inthose locations.

Upon his departure from civilengineering in July 1963, the generalserved as the DCS for Administrationand Logistics and later Chief of Staffat HQ Pacific Air Forces at HickamAFB, HI. He ended his militarycareer as Assistant to the Commanderof Military Air Transport Service at

Scott AFB, IL, in 1965.After retirement from active duty,

he worked for a number of engineer-ing firms, most notably Day andZimmerman in Philadelphia, PA, andCommonwealth Associates in Jack-son, MI.

As a lasting tribute to thegeneral�s many contributions to AirForce civil engineering, the Maj GenAugustus M. Minton Award for thebest article published in Air ForceCivil Engineer magazine each year isnamed in his honor.

The general was interred atArlington National Cemetery. (LoisWalker, HQ AFCESA Historian)

General Thomas D. White

Major General Augustus M. Minton


Firefighting may not be a sport,but it certainly requires athleticism.Add the element of competition andit becomes, �the fastest two minutesin sports,� also known as theFirefighter Challenge World Champi-onship.

Nine Air Force teams joinedmore than 800 civilian and militaryfirefighters from around the world inthe championship, Oct. 29 to Nov. 2,in Deerfield Beach, FL. Competitors,dressed in full fire fighting gear,rushed through a series of physicallydemanding firefighting activities for atimed score.

The Travis Air Force Base, CA,team was the top-placing U.S. team.

Air Force Teams Competein World Championship

Attending the retirement ceremony forCol James T. (Tom) Ryburn in March werefive of the most recent civil engineer fieldgrade assignment officers, includingColonel Ryburn. Having this many formerAir Force Personnel Center CE assignmentofficers together was truly a rare event andone that will probably not be duplicatedagain.

Pictured from left to right are: Maj TimFuller (current AFPC CE assignment officer),Maj Doug Hammer (AFPC April 00�Aug. 02,currently at HQ ACC/CEO), Lt Col TomBrown (AFPC June 98�June 00, currently atHQ ACC/CEV-2), Col Ken Shelton (AFPCMay 91�June 94, currently at HQ ACC/CEO)and Col Tom Ryburn (AFPC July 98�July 91,recently retired ACC/CE-2). (Lt Col ScottHoran, HQ ACC/CEO)

Five Generations of CE Assignment Officers

Travis took third in the relay eventbehind two teams from Canada andplaced second in the team event,losing out to the Canadian team by

one second. SSgt Michael Melton, a Travis teammember, finished third in the individual category.

Other Air Force teams included Altus and VanceAFBs, OK; Edwards AFB, CA; Little Rock AFB,

AR; Ramstein (two teams)and Spangdahlem Air Bases,Germany; RAF Mildenhall(two teams), UK; and theDoD Fire Academy,Goodfellow AFB, TX.(MSgt Michael A. Ward,HQ AFCESA Public Affairs)

(Left) Almost there: Membersof the Team Mildenhall firedepartment head toward thefinish line in the relay eventof the World Challenge XIcompetition. (Photos byKaren Abeyasekere)

(Above) Making it look easy:A1C Brett Davis, 100th CES firedepartment, pulls the 45-pounddonut hose up five stories tothe top of the tower beforesprinting down to complete therest of the course.

Mission SupportDirectorate atHQ AFSPC

Air Force Space Command atPeterson Air Force Base, CO, hasundergone an internal reorganizationto create a headquarters-levelMission Support Directorate. ColConnie Carmody, formerly The CivilEngineer at HQ AFSPC, has beenappointed as the first director of thenew organization. Col GordonJaniec, formerly the Deputy CivilEngineer, is now The Civil Engineerfor AFSPC.

34 SPRING 2003

2002 Colonel-Selects

Richard D. BartholomewLemoyne F. BlackshearWilfred T. CassidyJohn R. Cawthorne

* BPZ (below the promotion zone)

* Maria J. Dowling* Timothy S. Green

Stuart D. HartfordJuan Ibanez Jr.

* Max E. KirschbaumAndrew Q. KnappWilliam H. Martin Jr.Steven J. Moes

2002 Lieutenant Colonel-SelectsMichael A. Addison Jr.James T. AllenWilliam M. BarrettMark BednarElizabeth A. BrownSherry M. BunchDavid A. CaffeeDaniel S. Costello Jr.James D. Eaton IIIChristopher E. Findall

Darren P. GibbsMitchell R. GordonFusun GrumbachJames F. HanlonTimothy P. HaynieRichard H. HoughtonRussell R. HulaDerek A. JeffriesJeffry D. KnippelSteven T. Kuennen

David A. MartinsonJani L. McCrearyThomas L. Mitchell Jr.Pamela A. MoxleyLowell A. NelsonBrian A. OuelletteJohn C. PraterMichael D. PrazakJeffrey N. RumrillMark A. Ruse

2002 Major-SelectsStacey L. AnasonMichael J. BeachMatthew P. BenivegnaArno J. BischoffCraig A. BloodThomas A. BongioviRandy L. BoswellJoseph D. BrandsSuzanne E. BraunschneiderStephanie W. BronsonBradford E. BuckmanDawn M. CampbellPeter A. DomahoskiTeri L. FrenchDouglas W. GilpinStephen T. GraceWalter D. GravesMatt E. Greene

James S. GriffinPamela S. GroverKelly L. HarshbargerPhilip C. HicksAlejandro HinojosMichal D. HollidayEric P. HoverstenMatthew B. HutchingsTimothy G. ImdiekeMatthew G. JoganichSusan E. KennedyChon H. KimChristian J. KnutsonErik J. LagerquistMark S. LaudenslagerLouis E. LilleyTimothy E. LockhartJeffrey M. McBride

George MoraczewskiCharles Y. MurnieksDayton O. Nooner IIIShannon E. O’BoyleJarrett G. PurdueAnthony RileyMatthew D. RobinsonJames S. RomaszRichard T. SandersMichael T. SheredyMark J. ShoviakWilliam E. SitzabeeEric R. SosaArmand C. StaffordEric D. SwensonMarc R. VandeveerEric W. Waters

Joseph H. SchwarzRobert J. StaibRichard J. WheelerEric J. Wilbur

2002 Chief Master Sergeant-SelectsTodd W. BarnesJerry L. Barnett Jr.Michael L. BernardBrian C. BridgefordBenjamin E. BrooksBruce A. BulluckCarolyn V. ByrdDavid T. DonanDavid L. EhlersKevin J. Fraher

Fredrick W. GreenKenneth HelgersonAlfred E. HicksEric L. HoganPaul S. KaplanMark L. LewisNancy A. McHughRichard O. MikoTimothy S. Prentice

Jon D. SaiersTerry D. SearsWilliam W. SheltonRichard K. SinghasRandall K. SkinnerJewel Stevens IIIFranklin C. TallmanJoseph D. TriggClarence H. Walsh

Derrek D. SanksRichard E. Sloop Jr.Kenneth P. SmithGregory L. TuresCurt A. Van De WalleEva C. WilsonRobert E. Yates


The 8th CES is a 335-person squadron that supports America�s premier fighter wing inthe Pacific � The Wolf Pack. Tracing its history as far back as 1961, the Red Devils arethe marquee unit for the entire wing. As the foundation of the wing�s combatairpower, the CE Red Devils provide critical infrastructure repair, dynamic emergencyservices, airfield damage repair, and force survival and readiness training andcapabilities. Maintaining a high degree of combat readiness, the squadron continuesto advance environmental security and stewardship while enhancing the base�sdevelopment and community planning.

Recent Accomplishments:Recent Accomplishments:Recent Accomplishments:Recent Accomplishments:Recent Accomplishments: One of the lead bases to implement the Air Force�snew Chemical Warfare CONOPS base-wide. The squadron simultaneouslyrevolutionized the way it plans for the future and accomplishes work today withKunsan 2015 � its base development vision. The plan continues to transform KunsanAir Base into an �assignment of choice,� as stated by both the Air Force Chief of Staffand the commanding general of U.S. Forces Korea. The squadron also maintains aclose relationship with Republic of Korea Air Force engineers.

Additionally, the 8th CES has developed alternatives to executing major projects andprograms by using the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence as an adjunct tothe Corps of Engineers. This new relationship has increased the cost effectiveness ofprojects and dramatically enhanced responsiveness to the mission and its customers.

Unique Requirements:Unique Requirements:Unique Requirements:Unique Requirements:Unique Requirements: A heavy workload combined with constant annualturnover creates unique challenges that are overcome by working together. The8th CES enjoys high morale and even higher esprit de corps. �One Squadron � OneFamily� is the philosophy that keeps the unit � civilian and military � strong.As part of the �11th AEF,� the CE Red Devils are already �deployed� to where theywill fight. This sobering reality bonds the unit and brings out the warrior ethos. While itis a short-tour assignment, the number of those who choose to do another tourcontinues to increase every year. Once a Red Devil, always a Red Devil. The legacy itbrings to all civil engineers is one of excellence and commitment.

Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit:The Wolf Pack, 8th Fighter Wing(Pacific Air Forces)

Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Kunsan Air Base, Republic ofKorea

Commander:Commander:Commander:Commander:Commander:Lt Col Jose A. Mata

Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:236 military and 99 SouthKorea civilians

Wing Mission:Wing Mission:Wing Mission:Wing Mission:Wing Mission:Defend the Base � AcceptFollow-on Forces � Take theFight North!!

Squadron Nickname:Squadron Nickname:Squadron Nickname:Squadron Nickname:Squadron Nickname:CE Red Devils

36 SPRING 2003

Civil engineers do their part to supportthe build up at forward deployedlocations for Operations ENDURING

FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM.

Civil engineers do their part to supportthe build up at forward deployedlocations for Operations ENDURING

FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM.

Amn Misty Collinson, 321st ECES, performs an operations check onan M22 chemical detector. (Photo by SSgt Tony Tolley) (Inset, top)SrA David Dottavio, TSgt Reagan Musser and TSgt Mike Markley,

320th ECES, strap down support braces while preparing to lower awall into the side of a protective bunker being built Feb. 4. (Photo by

SSgt Matthew Hannen) (Inset, center) Members of the 410th ECESinstall a product water hose into a 20,000 gallon storage bladder Feb.

16. (Photo by SSgt Lanie McNeal) (Inset, bottom) Firefighters fromthe 410th ECES prepare to enter a C-130 cargo aircraft during an

egress training exercise. (Photo by SSgt Bennie Davis)

Amn Misty Collinson, 321st ECES, performs an operations check onan M22 chemical detector. (Photo by SSgt Tony Tolley) (Inset, top)SrA David Dottavio, TSgt Reagan Musser and TSgt Mike Markley,

320th ECES, strap down support braces while preparing to lower awall into the side of a protective bunker being built Feb. 4. (Photo by

SSgt Matthew Hannen) (Inset, center) Members of the 410th ECESinstall a product water hose into a 20,000 gallon storage bladder Feb.

16. (Photo by SSgt Lanie McNeal) (Inset, bottom) Firefighters fromthe 410th ECES prepare to enter a C-130 cargo aircraft during an

egress training exercise. (Photo by SSgt Bennie Davis)

preparing for war...ssgt pratt vivekanandan uses the global positioning system to check elevation as...

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