Courtesy Photo | The Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning team don their Mission Oriented Protective...... read more read more
Subscribe
Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.- The 30th Civil Engineer Squadron at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Lompoc, Calif., and the 61st Civil Engineer and Logistics Squadron at Los Angeles Air Force Base, El Segundo, Calif., took proactive steps in preparation for potential conflicts with near-peer adversaries during an expeditionary base beddown exercise at March Air Reserve Base, Moreno Valley, Calif., July 24., through July 28, 2023. The squadrons received a preparatory Warning Order, prompting a deployment in a hub and spoke model to the Indo-Asia Pacific region for 72 members led by Company Grade Officers and Senior Enlisted Leaders. This deployment, was supported by the 163rd Regional Training Squadron at March ARB and spanning approximately five days, aimed to enhance the units’ operational readiness and capabilities.
Over the course of the week, Noncommissioned Officers led their respective Air Force Specialty Code’s to refine skills and master vital activities related to Expeditionary Base Beddown and Rapid Airfield Damage Recovery. This collaborative deployment was strategically designed to bolster the team’s collective strengths, abilities to execute mass movements and foster improved interoperability. The ultimate objective was to ensure the utmost readiness of U.S. forces for real-world contingencies in the region.
Enduring extreme temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the combined team built a tent city capable of accommodating up to 150 individuals for both habitation and operations within six hours of arrival. The following tasks extended to the rapid airfield restoration and establishment of temporary airfield operations, specifically to facilitate the arrival of rotary wing, HH-60/Osprey, and fixed-wing, C-130, aircraft within a tight five-day window. The teams were challenged to operate proficiently in varying levels of Chemical Biological Nuclear environments while executing necessary tasks.
In the following days, a series of rigorous training exercises were carried out, with a special emphasis on RADR and expeditionary beddown skills. These exercises honed the engineers’ ability to swiftly restore airfields to operational status after being compromised. The significance of cross-training became evident, on the final training day as Airmen leveraged their newly learned skills to lead muti-functional teams of five to ten personnel to accomplish a series of tasks across Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning, Water and Fuels System Maintenance, Structures, Pavements, Electrical, and Power Production specialties.
The training culminated with a simulated airfield attack, providing invaluable hands-on experience in airfield repair. Overall, the RADR process involved clearing debris from the damaged airfield surface using heavy equipment. Next Airmen had to cut around damaged areas or craters, using specialized saws. Excavators followed the saws removing the debris and concrete from the cut areas. The cleaned cut areas were then filled with a rapid-set concrete which brought the airfield back to operational status.
The RADR technique enabled teams to address around 18 craters in approximately six and a half hours. This intensive training regimen equipped the units to apply their newfound skills at their home bases, thereby elevating the overall readiness of forces in the Indo-Asia Pacific region.
This first-ever training partnership between the two California-based Space Systems Command squadrons demonstrated the ability for Air Force support personnel assigned to U.S. Space Force installations to rapidly mobilize and seamlessly integrate in response to a peer-level threat scenario.
| Date Taken: | 10.19.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 10.16.2023 20:10 |
| Story ID: | 455917 |
| Location: | EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 427 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, How Expeditionary Base Beddown and RADR Transform Military Operations, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
