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PAINE FIELD, Wash.—The Washington Air National Guard’s 215th Engineering Installation Squadron operated at Paine Field in Everett from 1953 until its inactivation in 2013, with a heritage going all the way back to 1942. “We had extraordinary people with a lot of technical experience in communications,” said retired Col. William Canavan, who commanded the unit from 1989 to 1995 and then again from 1999 to 2001.
According to a unit history statement, “The mission of the 215th EIS was to train, equip and deploy teams for Expeditionary Air Force missions, contingencies (federal and state) in support of the Total Force effort and sent its members all around the globe designing and installing communications facilities – towers, poles and cable, manholes and ducts, equipment racks and Local Area Network distribution cabling – for an Air Force that uses a significant quantity of computers and networks.”
The roots of the 215th go back to the Second World War, when it was first formed as the Army’s 94th Signal Company, 59th Service Group at Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma in 1942. Redesignated as the 109th Signal Company, the unit sailed to Australia in the fall of 1943, taking part in the New Guinea and Southern Philippines campaigns. After the war, the unit was transferred to Yang Dung Po, Korea according to the unit history.
Over the next several years, the unit went through multiple redesignations and was activated for federal service in the Korean Conflict, planning for movement to Moulines, France. According to the unit’s history, “This movement never occurred because less than four months later on 1 February 1953 the 610th was released from active service and reverted back to state control. That same day it was redesignated as the 215 Communications Construction Squadron. The unit was reorganized with a slight reduction in personnel before being redesignated for a fifth time as the 215 Ground Engineering and Electronics Installation Agency (GEEIA) on 1 January 1959.”
With an Air Force restructuring of the GEEIA function, the unit was redesignated once again as an Electronics Installation Squadron on April 1, 1970, and it added an electronics engineering cell in 1972. The 215th’s training facilities occupied 11.5 acres on Paine Field. In 1982, the unit was redesignated as the 215th Engineering Installation Squadron, which it kept for the 31-year remainder of its existence.
The 215th was an integral part of fiber backbone installation for the National Guard on the west coast of the United States, as well as Hawaii. The unit helped to move radar equipment from Galena Air Force Station, Alaska, to Kokee Air Force Station on the Island of Kauai, said retired Chief Master Sgt. Greg Gessell, who served in the unit from 1985 until 2013.
The unit was assigned to missions around the world, including South Korea, Australia, and Thailand. In turn, members of the Royal Thai Navy traveled to Paine Field for training with the 215th. “It was the first time the Royal Thai Navy had sent people at their expense to the U.S. for training,” said Gessell. “We trained them in fiber and copper cable installation and maintenance. We would do that every other year for two weeks.”
The 215th also made a significant difference in support of the active duty force. “The 215th was extraordinary in providing services to the active duty Air Force,” said Canavan.
Canavan had served as a Navy flight officer during the Vietnam War before joining the Washington Air Guard’s 262nd Combat Communications Squadron in Bellingham, Washington. Eventually he trained to be a computer communication staff officer, serving in units in California and New York. Canavan returned to Washington State in December 1989 to take over command of the 215th from Lt. Col. Steve Peterson.
All-calls were held in the vehicle maintenance area. Canavan instituted an annual holiday slideshow presentation set to the music of Mannheim Steamroller, highlighting the unit’s accomplishments and goals. “It set the tone for a team that knew what was going on, what we were doing, and what part they played,” said Canavan.
According to Canavan, many 215th members held civilian jobs in telecommunications companies, bringing their civilian expertise to bear on assignments and exercises.
Retired Lt. Col. Dan Flack, who joined the 215th following his active duty service in the mid-1980s and served as engineering officer in charge, said that he was impressed by the exchange of ideas that occurred among members of the unit. “We had managers from Weyerhaeuser, Microsoft, US West, and to see all these types of leaders and managers really helped me a lot both in the military and on the civilian side. I saw so many ways people approached things.”
Starting in 1994, the 215th was on an air expeditionary force deployment rotation to the Middle East. Chief Master Sgt. Robert Cliatt and two other members of the 215th traveled to Saudi Arabia to take part in a Pentagon-directed survey in preparation for a transition from tactical equipment to desktop network systems. Following that, nine airmen went to Saudi Arabia to help establish support facilities. After the crew had arrived, said Canavan, “Senior Master Sgt. Ralph Jackson called me in middle of night and said, ‘Sir, I have a problem. There’s a colonel over here and he says he doesn’t need the Air National Guard in his AOR and we can start packing.” After Canavan placed a call to the National Guard Bureau, he was told that the crew could stay. The 215th returned to Saudi Arabia repeatedly after that. Canavan went over as a project manager.
Over the years, Middle East deployments included Eskan Village, Saudi Arabia; Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia; Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar; and multiple locations in Iraq including Kirkuk in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Most of these missions came about because of requests for engineering installation support from the Army, while missions like Al Udeid and Eskan involved construction of combined air operations centers, according to Gessell. The unit’s last deployments were to Kandahar and Bagram Air Bases in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
In addition, EIS members took part in Operation Joint Endeavor in support of the mission in Kosovo and Operation DEEP FREEZE in New Zealand.
The unit also supported domestic operations such as the support to civil authorities during the World Trade Organization civil unrest in 1999, drug interdiction work in Skagit County, Washington and on the Canadian border, and support to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in the fight against wildfires.
Veterans of the 215th emphasize the camaraderie they experienced in the unit. “We’re very close,” said Gessell. “We had our own recruiter, who recruited from Seattle to Bellingham, so most people came from that community.” Proximity made it easier for 215th members to gather for social occasions outside of work. Members also gathered for dinings-in and dinings out, and they took part in Hometown Heroes events supported by the American Legion post in Snohomish.
“The 215th was a family,” said Senior Master Sgt. Troy Carle, 194th Wing, who recalled visiting the unit as a child and attending picnics when his mother, Master Sgt. Karen Schilling, served in the unit.
In 2006, the Washington Air National Guard brought various units, including the 215th, into the new 194th Regional Support Wing. Some geographically separated units were relocated, and some former combat communications units transitioned to cyberspace operations missions.
Amid continued reorganization and resource allocation within the new wing, the 215th mission came to an end.
The unit was officially inactivated on October 1, 2013, and the inactivation flag-rolling ceremony was held on November 3, 2013 at Camp Murray. Lt. Col. Ron Jimmerson, the unit’s last commander, described the unit history. “As sad of a day as this is, we’re really here to celebrate your legacy and your history as a family,” said Col. Jill Lannan, commander of the 194th Regional Support Wing, in remarks at the ceremony. The unit was recognized as the Washington State Outstanding Squadron of the Year for 2013.
While some retired or separated from the Air National Guard at that time, many chose to stay in and transferred into other Air Guard units. Those who stayed in tended to be high achievers in their Guard careers, said Gessell. Members’ new units “saw the value in the people who came down here,” said Gessell. “The legacy is people who are still excelling and still progressing in their careers.”
| Date Taken: | 03.25.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.25.2022 11:09 |
| Story ID: | 417163 |
| Location: | EVERETT, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 997 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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