CE test warfighting capabilities

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Michael X. Beyer
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) --  The 355th Civil Engineer Squadron participated in an airfield damage response and assessment exercise at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, March 28-30, 2018.

The exercise was held to evaluate their response to a damaged airfield in a simulated deployed environment.

“We’re testing the integration and interoperability of all the different flights throughout CE,” said Master Sgt. Joshua Daley, 355th CES Explosives Ordnance Disposal Flight quality assurance noncommissioned officer in charge. “We have a lot of different functions, and this is how we’re able to get together and test our wartime capabilities as a whole squadron.”

The exercise required all CE flights to work together towards a common goal.

“This is a monumental occasion to be able to get all the puzzle pieces together,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Beverley, 355th CES commander.

The exercise began with an airfield damage assessment. A team comprised of an engineering technician specialist and EOD technicians, designated where comprised damage and unexploded ordnance were then relayed the information to the emergency operations center.

“Immediately after an attack, one of the first things we need to be able to do is launch and recover aircraft,” Daley said. “Our first priority is to get out to the runway and find any damage and find any remaining unexploded ordnance.”

After discovering and assessing the ordnance, EOD technicians must disarm them while limiting airfield damage and maintaining air mobility.

After the damage was assessed, pavement and construction equipment and structural specialists tested their abilities by filling and repairing damage caused by the simulated explosions from UXOs.

These tasks can only be completed by the different career fields of CE working together, and the end result better prepares them for the skills and readiness needed in a real-world scenario.