Reserve engineers build station for Saint Lucia police force

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Shad Eidson
  • Air Force Print News
VIEUX FORT, Saint Lucia --  This tiny, 238-square-mile Caribbean island getaway has lush rain forests, sandy beaches bordering crystal clear water and pleasant weather.

For six months this year, teams of Air Force Reserve civil engineers are spending their two-week tours on the isle in the Lesser Antilles Archipelago. They're not vacationing in the tropical tourist haven, rather, they're helping fight the war on drugs.

One team arrived April 8 to build an operations center and barracks for island police. The building will support the nation’s counter drug operations. This rotation is focusing on finishing the brick and mortar for the walls and the construction of roof trusses before the next team arrives in two weeks.

“There are nearly 140 civil engineers going on the rotation (to the island),” said Lt. Col. Richard Matthews, commander of the 433rd Civil Engineer Squadron at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

There are also civil engineers from the 445th Civil Engineer Squadron at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, on the island. The training opportunities the reservists are getting has many of them working outside their specialties.

“I have firefighters down there primarily as (emergency medical technicians). But they are helping the project reach its completion in between performing that duty,” Colonel Matthews said.

Saint Lucia has no military but does have a police force and a marine police force. The government put out a bid for the new facility near Vieux Fort but contractor-estimated costs were more than a $1 million. A solution beneficial to U.S. and Saint Lucian interests was selected and the 433rd became the lead unit tasked to construct the 5,300-square-foot building.

The facility will include dormitories for male and female police officers, an operation center, offices, a laundry, restrooms with showers, a kitchen and mess area, an armory and a conference or briefing room. Due to the large scale of the project and the limited time on site, the 433rd asked the 445th to help.

“One challenge is the two-week rotation of teams,” said Maj. Chris Cunningham, 445th CES and construction team commander.

The departing team and the arriving team have one day where they both work on site and go over the status of the project. That isn’t much time to keep a project going smoothly and staying on schedule, he said. But the professional attitudes they bring help them work around minor inconveniences, such as the island’s 10-minute tropical showers and the unpredictable shipment of materials from local sources.

Even though there are two different units working together, they mesh well, Major Cunningham said.

“We have worked together in the past during inspections and the job is going great,” Major Cunningham said.

“The 445th worked with cinder blocks during some past humanitarian missions and they share their expertise with our guys on this mission,” said Senior Master Sgt. Sergio Medellin of the 433rd CES. He has been the project manager on site since day one.

“So far there have been no work stoppages to the project. The new team arrives and switches out and the work has continuously moved forward,” he said.

The project has been an opportune chance for many Reserve engineers to learn new areas. Everyone is included in all aspects of the project, Sergeant Medellin said. The team members are all multi-talented or are learning to be.

“The training is phenomenal,” Sergeant Medellin said. “Learning from books is nice, but you can’t teach this kind of experience in a book.”

The previous team quickly learned that the local source of sand contained pebbles and shell pieces too large to make effective mortar for the block walls. The team built a station to sift the sand through a screen and onto the ground while keeping the unwanted pieces on top. These could then be easily disposed of on the beach just 30 feet away.

The new facility is next to a marine police sub-station on the southern side of the island.

“The marine police have been very helpful with the project, letting us use their facility for electricity, Internet and an office in the back as an operations center,” said Master Sgt. John Pope from the 433rd CES. At the midpoint, he will take over project manager responsibilities from Sergeant Medellin and see the project to completion.

The one-desk office in the marine police building is where team leaders go to check their work with what is in the “bible”-- the name given to the construction blueprints that were coordinated with the Saint Lucian government and U.S. Southern Command officials in Miami. It might be small, but it has everything the team needs to manage the project, Sergeant Pope said.

A team isn’t isolated once on the island. Weekly reports to the command keep officials updated on the project’s status and initiate feedback for any changes that need to be made to a team’s efforts. The project receives a lot of attention, Sergeant Pope said.

“We need five rights for every wrong,” he said. “We rely on every craft in CE’s arsenal -- masonry, electric, carpentry -- all of them to make this a success.”

Construction on the hurricane-proof facility has stayed on schedule since its start in January and is expected to be finished in July with 12 teams rotating through.