Photo By Tech. Sgt. Shawn Nickel | U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Troy Moncrief, a 354th Civil Engineering Squadron...... read more read more
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Look out below, bombs away or dropping a load are terms familiar to military operations, but they’re also synonymous with a different act necessary for all people. As the content of the bowels pass into a porcelain throne and the deed is flushed and forgotten, the end of the pipe isn’t just below the floorboards.
The 354th Civil Engineer Squadron water and fuels maintenance section makes another man’s trash not their treasure, but their mission, manning the end of the line to ensure the remains of human nature are safe to release back to the outside world.
“We are the people on base no one wants to visit, the shop that is off the main road and away from the sight of everyone’s eyes and noses,” said Master Sgt. Brolin Nero, the 354th CES wastewater treatment NCO in charge. “Our job is literally poopie. We handle what no one else wants to.”
Closed eyes and plugged noses may reveal the sounds of a mountain vacation—bubbling brooks connecting lakes as the leaves of surrounding trees bustle in the wind with wildlife audible above it all. Awaking from that dream to peer across a manufactured holding pond lined with thick black plastic rimmed with a crust of dried sewage unveils millions of gallons of forgotten waste that is treated in a week’s time by these sanitation engineers.
“Twenty four/seven we are here watching for something that’s out of the norm or not working,” said Airman 1st Class Troy Moncrief, a 354th CES wastewater apprentice. “Testing the water daily is only a small part of the job even though it is one of the most important. Most of our time is spent checking pumps, removing solids, maintaining levels of salt and chlorine, and paying close attention to ensure there isn’t a spill of unsafe liquid.”
The sights aren’t as picturesque and inviting as this sensory getaway of the mountains, but the scents that fill the nostrils as if you are inhaling a solid substance is what quickly reels a dreamer back to reality.
“To an outsider it’s terrible to breathe in here,” Moncrief said with his country accent, emphasized with a wide-eyed look. “I’ve dry heaved and seen people puke just from the smell. You get used to it, but when you leave for a few days and come back it’s a new experience every time.”
Most of the dirty work happens underground, guarding the mission-critical process from weather that can drop to 50 degrees below zero. Miles of pipes flowing with contaminated liquid non-stop culminate to more than 500 thousand gallons of sewage treated every day.
“I feel like Steven Seagal in ‘Under Siege,’” Moncrief joked as he walked down a long, well lit hall. “All that’s missing is bad guys and I can’t do Karate down the halls.”
“Bowel movements, dookie, number two” are terms for what most people probably think is floating in these pools and tanks, but that’s not the only thing lurking in the depths.
“Wastewater is what we call it if we are briefing someone, but it doesn’t matter what the name is as long as it all goes through the plant,” Nero said.
As the solids are removed from this wastewater, more than the normal human fecal matter moves through a grinder or is caught in an underground trap. Anything flushed down a toilet ends up in the plant, and the occasional lost symbol of love is a true diamond in the rough.
“Wedding rings are the most interesting things I’ve seen found in 20 years,” said Nero.
Nero describes his flight of nine Airmen as the black sheep of base, but boasts about how smart they are and the technical skills they possess.
“These Airmen are the jacks of all trades,” he said. “They do lab testing, mow the lawn, maintain industrial pumps and even keep the tractors and heavy equipment in working order to ensure there isn’t a one-second break in the mission.”
With wastewater treatment operators becoming a dying breed of Airmen, the Eielson plant is only one of five in the Air Force and the lone ranger in the Pacific Air Forces, said Nero. This leaves him to pull his Airmen from different shops within the squadron’s pool of qualified Airmen. Each one is skilled in different ways such as plumbing, water treatment or fuels maintenance, but combined they can do anything necessary to win the daily battle.
A problem above ground could be in one of the ponds. Not a problem for these Airmen — a quick push from the shore and Moncrief quickly transforms from Airman to the skipper of a small aluminum boat. The silver hull slushes through the black water to resolve a clogged aeration hose or to remove a chunk of solid from a blocked culvert.
“This stuff would be everywhere if it wasn’t for these Airmen,” Nero said. “From the grossest solids and water filled with crud comes clear, safe water released non-stop day and night. I didn’t think I would love this job because it’s not glamorous, but being able to perform so many functions and see these Airmen learn so many tasks and perform flawlessly is extremely rewarding… sometimes nasty, but rewarding.”
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.19.2016 14:17 |
| Story ID: | 204384 |
| Location: | EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, AK, US |
| Web Views: | 72 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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