Airmen teach islanders construction skills

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Orville F. Desjarlais Jr.
  • Air Force Print News
BABLEDAOB, Palau (AFPN) --  Members of the all-Air Force civic action team working here are not content with just building construction projects -- they want to teach Palauan how to do it.

Eleven islanders are employed under the team’s apprenticeship-training program. Each works with a team member for training in the Airman’s particular skill. After a year of training, students earn certificates and receive help finding jobs in the construction industry.

The apprentices work five days a week, eight hours a day and earn about $100 every two weeks.

“They don’t have much, so we take them under our wing and teach them a new skill,” structural journeyman Staff Sgt. Kevin Babers said. “The apprentice program is somewhat like a rehab program. After completing the program, they’ll have a better chance for employment.”

The team’s mission is to help Palau develop its basic infrastructure and provide a favorable U.S. military presence.

Civic action teams have been visiting the island since 1969, when the government of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands asked the United States for their assistance. Since then, Sailors and Soldiers provided help. Airmen started lending a hand in 2004. The team on this latest six-month tour is entirely made up of Airmen.

Teams build roads, bridges, schools and civic centers, for example.

But Master Sgt. Wesley Matthews said the apprentice program is the best part of the mission. The program takes the mission a step further -- into mentorship.

“I like watching these guys and how they come along,” said Sergeant Matthews, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the team. “We treat them like Airmen. We talk to them about drinking and driving and drug usage. We get them to understand that they represent the team, and that when they do something bad it reflects on the team as a whole.

“They [apprentices] take that to heart,” he said.

For Elton Telmang, a young man from here, the program is a dream come true. When he was a teenager, he would take apart televisions, stereos and lawnmowers just to see how they worked, and then try to reassemble them. He graduated from the program in October.

“Now I can take apart an automobile diesel engine and put it all back together,” he said. “I think the program is good for the local people. It helps them stay out of trouble and learn a skill.”

The team hired Mr. Telmang as a groundskeeper. He mows grass and takes care of the camp where the team lives. When he saves enough money, his dream is to move to the United States and find a job as a diesel mechanic.

Most of the apprentices are young, but Georgia Renguul is middle-aged. She joined the program because of her fondness for the health-care industry. Eleven years ago she was a registered nurse at a nearby hospital. But carpal tunnel syndrome forced her to leave that job. She feared she would accidentally drop a patient.

Now fully recovered, she wishes more than ever to return to the profession she loves. She has been in the apprenticeship program for three months and is learning to be an emergency medical technician, at the basic level.

“The best part of my job is working with patients,” she said.

She is more than just basic technician to physician assistant Capt. Dan Calderon.

“She’s a very valuable asset,” he said. “She’s also a translator. She screens patients, supplies medications and much more.”

Capt. Kristen Bakotic, officer in charge of the team, is thrilled with the program.

“We have a lot of talented guys with a lot of experience and they really take the program seriously,” she said. “We’ve integrated the apprentices into our team. We even select an apprentice of the month and post their picture on a board.”

Although the team will continue to build roads and structures for Palau until the Airmen rotate out in the next three months, their impact will be felt long after they leave. Programs not completed by the team will be finished by their apprentices.