Reserve civil engineers sustain Warrior base

by 1st Lt Denise Haeussler
433rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

5/6/2014 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Sunshine and blue skies brought smiles to faces of the 433rd Civil Engineer Squadron as they moved from bare base bed-down to sustainment in support of Exercise Patriot Warrior 2014 at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin May 3 through 7.

"Once bed down is complete, we move into the sustainment phase which entails being readily available for whatever is needed at the FOB CE-wise as the main body builds up for the exercise," said Capt. David Shaw, 433rd CE Operations Flight commander.

According to Shaw, sustainment involves upkeep and maintenance of the FOB to make it livable. The CES Airmen are able to do beautification and upgrades, install boilers for hot water. Laundry facilities are set up. Hot meals in the flight kitchen become more available, and services can move into providing morale, welfare and recreation activities to boost and maintain morale.

Also during sustainment, CES has more free time for training they would not be able to get at home station.

"During bed down, I honed my skills in power production and trained on driving heavy equipment that I would not do back at Lackland," said electrician Master Sgt. Curtis Wilson. "The sustainment phase gave me an opportunity to broaden my skills and learn other avenues of CE."

"This is my first experience with bare base operations," said Senior Airman Lloyd Watkins, an operations journeyman. "If I do deploy for a contingency operation, I will know what to expect, and how to operate the unit control center once bed down is done."

Sustainment also frees Airman up to meet real-world needs in and around the FOB. Several reservists volunteered to help build and level out the road at a nearby quarry. Others helped redo the siding, windows and doors on the morale, welfare, and recreation building at the Pine View Camping Grounds on the west side of the fort. 

"Helping out real world is a troop labor project. It's the best of both worlds because this is what CE would be doing for normal annual training. Not only are they training in bare base operations, they are also keeping up with annual requirements.

"This has been an ideal opportunity for my Airmen to train," said Shaw. "I'm grateful for this experience for myself and my team."