319th Civil Engineer Squadron Improves Quality of Life While Sharpening Skills

by Staff Sgt. Susan L. Davis
319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

7/3/2013 - GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- A portion of Building 408 is getting a facelift thanks to about 50 members of the 319th Civil Engineer Squadron.

The work was chosen for what is known as a Contingency Construction Home Station Training (CCHST) project, completed every 12 months to hone engineers' skills in their respective vocations, as well as improve quality of life for building occupants.

According to officials from the Headquarters Air Mobility Command Readiness and Emergency Management Division, AMC civil engineers should possess both construction and management skills to complete facility and infrastructure projects required of them in the deployed environment.

However, they are not always provided the opportunity to practice these skills at home station due to their focus on accomplishing small repair or recurring maintenance work.

Structural and power production engineers, electricians, Heating, Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) and Refrigeration specialists, and other specialties within the CE squadron come together to complete each project.

"It's important that our civil engineers get this experience here at home in between their routine repair and maintenance duties, because this is the kind of thing we do while deployed, and they've got to know what they're doing when they get there," said 2nd Lt. Chrystopher Nicholson, 319th CES.

Projects selected for a CCHST are usually small-scale renovation or construction projects that take between 500-1,000 hours to complete, and are usually finished by the end of June each year.

Civil engineers here chose the area in Building 408 because it was many years outdated, both cosmetically and functionally. There, they installed two new offices that didn't exist before, as well as two refurbished restrooms.

Staff Sgt. Joshua Powell, 319th CES electrician, said he very much enjoys the work he and his team are getting to do on the current project at Building 408.

"This is really more than just making this part of the building look nicer," he said. "This is about ensuring the building is code-compliant and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant, and more energy efficient. The planning and purchasing aspect can be really involved and time-consuming, but when you take a step back and say to yourself, 'I built that'--that gives you a real sense of accomplishment."