Osan AB's airfield damage repair team train with South Korean air force

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Stephenie Wade
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (AFNS) --  Airmen of the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron airfield damage repair team here participated in a combined-rapid-runway-repair-training exercise with the South Korean air force's 19th Tactical Fighter Wing and 91st Air Civil Engineer Group Aug.19 at Jungwon Air Base, South Korea.

"This is the first time 51st CES has participated in this kind of exercise or training with the (South Korean air force)," said Master Sgt. Christopher Belknap, the 51st CES NCO in charge of structures.

The exercise scenario was the airfield was hit by two Scud missiles or mortar rounds. The South Korean and American airmen had to work together to repair the damaged airfield as quickly as possible and get planes back into the fight.

During the exercise, 93 members from the 91st ACEG, 19th TAW and 51st CES filled two craters at the same time. The 91st ACEG supplied the engineer support while the 51st CES team was in charge of the folded fiberglass mat team and measuring the compaction quality of one of the two craters.

With the help of more than 40 pieces of equipment and 107 people, the craters were completed in two and a half hours; however, that's not all the team accomplished during the mission.

"The significance of 51st CES efforts clearly had a positive impact," said Maj. Bradley Johnson, the 51st CES operations flight commander. "They demonstrated techniques and procedures that will enhance how our (South Korean air force) partners recover their bases. Moreover, their professionalism strengthened relations with our host nation comrades. I believe we came back with a better understanding of how the (South Korean air force) operates and took away some good nuggets that we can apply to improve our processes."

The two units plan to continue combined training operations to standardize and strengthen both sides in the future, he said.

The runway repair training was part of the peninsula wide exercise called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, a joint, combined exercise that began Aug. 10 and brought more than 550 military members to South Korea.