Combat engineers prepare for deployment contingincies

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Sarah Shea
  • 908th Airlift Lift
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. --  The 908th Civil Engineer Squadron recently deployed 41 members to Fort McCoy, Wis., where both engineers and firefighters participated in joint exercises and training to better prepare for contingency deployments.

The exercise included all aspects of contingency mission requirements, incorporating each specific AFSC.

Engineering personnel logged more than 5,000-plus man hours to build, maintain, supply, protect, and redeploy the entire 500 pax. Water Fuels Maintenance personnel purified raw lake water to provide fresh drinking water and water for showers and laundry facilities. Electricians engaged in many hours of tedious tent wiring and, together with Power Pro, provided electricity to the forward operations base (FOB).

Power pro performed site surveys of the entire base camp, calculated power usage and maintained more than 30 generators.

Structures personnel set up tents and configured components, then supervised the tear down and packing of more than 50 tents during the base redeployment. Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning technicians provided much-needed heat and air conditioning to the tent city as the weather was in the low 40's at night and upper 80's during the day.

The heavy equipment operators graded the FOB, assisted with real world flooding issues, and corrected elevation/longevity of the road bed at the Ft. McCoy rock quarry.

The 908th firefighters were responsible for real-world base fire protection and took part in several training activities, to include night burns, a combat firefighter challenge, structure fire, modified crash burns, convoy operations and protecting C-130s, C-17s and Black Hawks.

Each CE member who attended this exercise received invaluable hands-on training and many had their first opportunity to experience operations in a contingency environment.

"I was very impressed and proud of what our Airmen accomplished at the WARX," said Lt. Col. Patrick Albrecht, squadron commander. "The training and experience we received will go a long way to improving our mission capabilities and unit cohesion while moving us closer to our vision of 'Anytime, Anywhere.'"