Civil Engineer training leads the way in airfield recovery operations

FARGO, ND, UNITED STATES

08.16.2023

Story by Senior Airman Christa Anderson 

119th Wing, North Dakota Air National Guard

North Dakota Air National Guard base in Fargo, ND hosted a total force, active duty, guard, and reserve, Rapid Airfield Damage and Recovery (RADR) training at the 119th Regional Training Site.
The Regional Training Site is one of five regional training sites in the country that is currently providing Rapid Airfield Damage and Recovery (RADR) training.
The training gives Civil Engineer Airmen the opportunity to develop hands-on skills with the equipment they would use and the roles they would fill in a deployed environment.
“This training provides an opportunity for our Civil Engineers to learn something that is outside of their normal daily job, said Technical Sgt. Chris Larson, 119th Wing Regional Training Site (RTS) pavement and construction equipment instructor. “The training teaches capabilities for contingency environments, in deployed locations and how to do these things for real.
“The students are getting hands-on training, not a computer-based training. We are doing it for-real, which gives them the satisfaction of knowing how to go-out and do it for real in their deployed locations,” said Larson.
RADR is designed to help Airmen become more competent and confident in their roles and sharpen their skills for real-world events.
“The purpose of the training, builds competence, and competence builds confidence, so that we are confident and able to perform our job anytime anywhere,” said staff Sgt. Bradell Sankey RADR student from the 319th Civil Engineering Squadron.
“Seeing the troops come in from day one, starting to learn the process, and learn the equipment, maybe not fully confident in what they are doing. But by the time we get the last day, they know what the process is. They know what the next step is, and they are capable of going out and repeating that process again,” said Master Sgt. Jody Saatoff the 119th Wing Regional Training Site Manager.
RADR training prepares airmen to carry out their role in an austere environment and keep airfields operating.
“The training ensures that we have a ready force. When we deploy, we do not know what we may be getting into. If we are attacked and we have to recover an airfield this is the training our airman need to get that done,” said Saatoff.
The training brings our airmen together to focus on needed skills and build partnerships.
“RADR training is a very current, very real, and a very valuable capability for the air force,” said Larson.

• Date Taken: 08.16.2023
• Date Posted: 09.22.2023 14:28
• Story ID: 452001
• Location: FARGO, ND, US