Build it, burn it, blow it up Civil engineers push the envelope for training

  • Published
  • By Ellen Hatfield
  • 349th Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The 349th Civil Engineer Squadron is building a shed, so they can burn it, and finally blow it up. To the most casual observer, this might seem odd, even wasteful, but they're doing it all for valuable training that will aid the warfighter.

Thirteen different specialty codes encompassed by CE benefit directly from this project, providing seasoning training, on-the-job training, and annual tour opportunity for Airmen working on skill level upgrade and job proficiency.

According to Tech. Sgt. Gerald Aksland, they haven't found another Reserve CE unit with a pilot project like this. Working on the build phase, he was supervising Senior Amns Brandon Ledesma and Adriana Pop in framing out a door, including routing and cutting hinge fittings.

"This training opportunity keeps the team during annual tour, while they're still learning their craft," he said. "Both Ledesma and Pop used seasoning training, and completed their three-level career development course."

Said Pop, "I'm still learning. Once you know more, it becomes more fun, like second nature to you."

Aksland said they learn a lot of their craft just by doing it. "They don't give you a manual on routing, cutting for hinges or joints, dry-walling or framing."

Continuing with the build out over the next month, the doors and windows will be put in. Electricians will put in the wiring and outlets, and plumbing and air conditioning specialists will do their part, too, all the time, honing their skills during annual training. Finally, the roof will go on, before the fire fighters get their chance for the burn. Detonation is set for October.

But the objective is not to destroy, according to Aksland. The team will inflict damage to their creation, with the final goal of preparing their Damage Assessment and Repair Team (DART), for exercises, and deployment. They'll gauge the level of damage to the shed, and then repair it.

According to Maj. Shane Lynch, operations flight commander, 31 CE Airmen deployed in 2012, and used their skills on the battlefield. Twenty Joint Expeditionary Task engineers, or JET Airmen, operated throughout the Afghanistan battle space. "Their duties often took them outside the wire to remote, austere locations, such as U.S. Army forward operating bases," he said. They built new structures, repaired ailing infrastructure, and installed new utility systems, restoring basic life amenities, such as water, shelter, electricity and HVAC, Lynch said.

Across the Gulf, 11 Airmen filled the Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force role. They bed down new weapons systems moving throughout the theater and constructed a tent city to accommodate an influx of 1,000 rotational personnel - all while fulfilling their primary mission - maintaining base infrastructure and airfields in support of 3,000 people and $7 billion in war fighting assets, according to the major.

"The knowledge and experience gained was invaluable," he said. "Those returning Airmen are in a position to impart their honed skills to junior members of the squadron. That cross-polination is taking shape as a result of this 'Build it, burn it, blow it up' project."

Lynch said unique to the JET Airmen was repairs to facilities damaged by enemy rockets and mortar attacks. The 349th CES Airmen were called upon to man weapons to bolster perimeter defenses as well.

Back home with the project, that scenario was recreated. "We actually blew up a wall recently, which made a nice hole, like a mortar round would," said Aksland. "It's going to be as real world as it gets. That's what we want."

During the October UTA, the building will be positioned on the Explosive Ordinance Disposal range, where a shape charge will be detonated, simulating just that type of damage, from a rocket, or mortar attack, said Lynch. From there, it will be repositioned so the fire department can respond, and exercise their skill sets.

"Once the structure is rendered 'fire safe,' our DART will assess the facility damage, isolate, and stabilize the infrastructure from further damage," the major said.

Build it, burn it, blow it up. Build it again.