Photo By Pfc. Chenelle Brady | Staff Sgt. Darren Willliams, a structure craftsman from the Air National Guard 285th...... read more read more
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The 285th Civil Engineer Squadron, Virgin Islands Air National Guard participated in Vigilant Guard 17-03 bringing their civil engineering expertise to the forefront on St. Croix, May 18, 2017.
The squadron took advantage of the chance to operate in a joint environment along with their army counterparts to train on HVAC, route clearance, and site development operations, among other skills.
The 285th CES deployed a small group of airmen to the security guard booth at the Estate Bethlehem military compound to fix a leaking air conditioner unit. They cleaned the grills and made sure that all the parts were in place. The three-man squad, worked together to finish the air conditioner taking no more than 30 minutes to complete.
“We enjoy keeping people cool, and by fixing their air condition it makes them happy and that makes us feel accomplished,” said Staff Sgt. Akil McFarland, a Heating Ventilation, Air Condition and Refrigeration (HVAC) Technician from 285th Civil Engineer Squadron.
Later that afternoon a few equipment operators from 285th conducted training at Estate LaGrange located in Frederiksted. Using a skid-steer loader, airmen picked up and moved dirt from one area to another. Meanwhile, a team of four airmen suited up wearing helmets, gloves, chaps (chainsaw leg protectors), face shields, and safety googles before cutting down a tree. They sawed off branches of dead trees and with technique and careful precession they were able to get parts of the tree to safely fall in the angles that they wanted.
“This job to me is a world of experience, because these are things that we can do outside the guard as well,” said Staff Sgt. Mark Spencer, a heavy equipment operator from the 285th Civil Engineer Squadron.
During Vigilant Guard, the airmen were also engaged with simulating dimensions of constructing a Helipad landing area. They set up a total station to do an outline, then used satellites that provided them with a direct measurement of where they were. The points can be used to construct a map.
285th CES also worked alongside the 662nd Engineer Company, 104th Troop Command, VIARNG, earlier in the week to clear routes as part of the exercise.
Vigilant Guard 17-03 is a national disaster response exercise hosted in the U.S. Virgin Islands by VING and U.S. Northern Command from May 15-19.
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 05.20.2017 15:00 |
| Story ID: | 234591 |
| Location: | ST. CROIX, VI |
| Web Views: | 116 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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