CE Airmen: one team, one fight, one focus

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt Mareshah Haynes
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq --  In the first light of the morning, when the sun is barely grazing the treetops, a sea of warriors outfitted in blue-gray and tan uniforms, can be seen through clouds of dust, preparing for their daily convoy through the village just outside the wire. Their destination is a nearby forward operating base where they've been constructing living quarters, shower and latrine facilities over the past few weeks.

This particular day, a clear March Sunday morning in Iraq, the Army lieutenant leading the mission gathers the mass together, each member is geared up in full battle-rattle -- individual body armor, helmets, eye protection and weapons -- for a mission brief and a prayer, asking for the protection and safe travel of the Soldiers and Airmen under her watch.

"It's easy to get complacent because we drive the same roads over and over again," said Senior Airman Richard Blanco, 732nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, Detachment 6 heavy equipment operator. "But any day anything can happen. Someone can come out in the middle of the night and put an improvised explosive devise in the road; you have to stay alert."

Convoying is just one of the many duties these Airmen perform that the majority of Air Force members don't encounter.

Airmen assigned to the detachment, who represent specialties within the CE career field, work hand-in-hand with Soldiers on missions like this day in and day out. These Airmen fill in-lieu-of, commonly referred to as ILO, taskings where they perform jobs typically executed by Soldiers. By integrating with their Army counterparts, Airmen enable Soldiers to be placed in other Army-specific positions.

Detachment 6 civil engineers, who are administratively controlled by the Air Force and tactically controlled by the Army, work at various FOBs throughout Iraq working on construction projects that support the mission and quality of life of the military personnel assigned there.

Before deploying, the Air Force civil engineers completed four weeks of Combat Skills Training, including Humvee training, convoy training, hand-to-hand combat and the combat lifesaver course, before arriving in the area of responsibility to fill the Army billets, said Staff Sgt. Patrick Araujo, 732 ECES, Detachment 6 electrician. The Airmen typically convoy with their equipment from site to site.

What, Detachment 6 [Airmen] are doing is going out and building these places, so that Soldiers, and in a lot of cases Airmen, can go out there and have a place to stay that meets a standard of living. It makes nice for the troops out there, said Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Fraher, 732nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron career enlisted manager. Sergeant Fraher

At FOB Normandy 18 Detachment 6 Airmen constructed 55 portable living quarters, four guard shacks and four burn latrines, where the waste is burned each day versus being processed through a sewage system. The projects required more than 10,000 square feet of wood and cost $500,000; the mission was completed in just seven days.

Elsewhere in Iraq, the detachement's Airmen working at FOB Caldwell moved 9,000 cubic meters of dirt and spread gravel over 2 million square feet of land to expand the maintenance yard where the Army houses their vehicles.

"It's nice being able to see the difference you're able to make for some of the other guys who don't have the amenities we have here," said Senior Airman Chad Newberry, 732 CES Detachment 6, heavy equipment operator. "To see their excitement about having showers after a month or so of not having them. They can use the things you built; it's nice."

The work Airmen from Detachment 6 accomplished didn't only affect the servicemembers who live in the structures they built from the ground up. The experience influenced one particular Airman to make a major career decision.

Airman Blanco decided to reenlist, partly, because of his time filling the ILO position.

"Before this deployment, I didn't get to see people appreciate the work we did. Over here the impact and the result s are a lot bigger and they affect people on a more personal level," he said. "When you're out at a FOB and you don't get to take a hot shower or have a hot meal and then someone comes along and makes it so that you can, you appreciate it a lot more."

As the day draws to a close and the sun dips below the horizon, seeming to hide behind a dump truck in the maintenance yard, the Airmen of Detachment 6 continue to work until darkness blurs the line of distinction between the gravel and sky. As their missions at the FOBs get completed, the Airmen will eventually return to their home duty-stations, their contributions will remain helping future servicemembers work toward the ultimate goal of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"It is absolutely awesome that together we [all branches of the armed services], are doing a lot of the same tasks, but it's toward a single focus," Chief Fraher said. "That focus is to make sure the Iraqis can take back their country."