Painting, cutting, welding and building. They do it all as long it doesn't have wheels or wings.

"If it doesn't fly or have wheels, we fix it," said Tech. Sgt. Dan Bertok, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron’s vertical shop noncommissioned officer in charge.

The vertical shop's goal is to keep the wing flying its mission by keeping the base's living and working areas in good condition, said Fred Yozzo, 20th CES vertical shop foreman.

"We are here 24-7, if needed, to keep the mission going," he said.

Because the vertical shop deals with different types of jobs, their people require various skills, including painting, dry walling, welding, cutting sheet metal, carpentry and many others, Sergeant Bertok said.

Versatility is the reason Sergeant Bertok said he enjoys working in the vertical shop.

"With everything that you learn from here, you could build your own house. It's like 10 different jobs into one," Sergeant Bertok said.

Senior Airman Luke Lucas, 20th structural journeyman, agrees that the versatility of his career field is what makes it so interesting.

Versatility keeps them motivated but it's the training that is critical to their success. To work in the structures shop they attend a five-month technical school, which teaches the basics of what they do, Airman Lucas said.

They also receive specialized training. Welding is one of those classes.

"Welding is a fairly difficult thing to pick up. You have to have a steady hand, so it's not just something anybody can just pick up. Anybody can lay down a welding bead, but it takes a good hold and a lot of training to do it right," Airman Lucas said.

Safety plays a big part in their training.

"As a former instructor, I taught that using high powered tools can be extremely dangerous. Many of the machines used here can seriously hurt or kill you," Sergeant Bertok said.

Because of those dangers, they always wear hearing and eye protection when using the machines, Airman Lucas said.

Training and attention to detail, said Sergeant Bertok, allows the Airmen at the vertical shop to provide people with a better place to work and live.

Airman Lucas said helping his fellow Airmen have a better work and living environment gives him great job satisfaction.

"While I was in (Iraq) we helped build a (base exchange) that brought a lot of morale to the troops," Airman Lucas said.

The vertical shop basically builds the bases for the Airmen there and provides them with all the creature comforts they can, Airman Lucas said.

Airman Lucas also recently participated in a morale project on base, building a scoreboard at the softball fields to improve the intramural sports program.

"We make the home you are fighting for," Mr. Yozzo said.