Photo By Staff Sgt. Kimberly Touchet | U.S. Air Force Col. Heather Blackwell, 81st Training Wing commander, Col. Marcia Quigley, 81st Mission Support Group commander, and Robert Moseley, 81st Civil Engineering Squadron director, pose for a photo during the 81st CES reactivation ceremony inside the Keesler Fire Department at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, Feb. 18, 2020. The 81st CES reactivation links contractors and military members from base operations support and the 81st Infrastructure Division with a proper chain of command. (U.S Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kimberly Mueller) see less
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Keesler Air Force Base reactivated the 81st Civil Engineering Squadron at the Keesler Fire Department on Feb. 18.
The 81st CES was deactivated in May 2009, and the duties were reallocated to the base operations support contract and the 81st Infrastructure Division.
“Having an ID instead of the 81st CES has caused us problems,” said Col. Heather Blackwell, 81st Training Wing commander. “Many times key funding decisions came to Keesler late, or we were skipped altogether. We were missing out on a lot.”
Reactivating the 81st CES allows a well-established chain of command for civilians and military members that will be dedicated to handle housing issues and other previously missed opportunities that were past the scope of the contract.
“This reactivation will involve coordinating with contractors and having a team put together a contract plan that captures all the aspects of the mission in order to bring back features that we’re missing,” said Robert Moseley, 81st CES director. “We will take every task with great pride and ownership in all fashions to maintain the base’s infrastructure, housing, military members and protect our facilities.”
