Photo By Master Sgt. Paul Rider | Members of the Washington Air National Guard's 248th Civil Engineer Flight (2015 file...... read more read more
CAMP MURRAY- The past year has been busy for the Washington Air National Guard’s 248th Civil Engineer Flight, based at Camp Murray, Washington.
In the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria, members of the Civil Engineer Flight provided support to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Their mission was to assess damage and coordinate repairs to Air National Guard facilities damaged by the hurricanes. When the engineers arrived on ground, they found extensive wind, water and mold damage to Air National Guard facilities and saw an opportunity to use their skills to effect temporary repairs where they were able.
The team surveyed, assessed and put together 26 separate contract packages, valued at over $6 million dollars, effectively freeing Puerto Rico and Virgin Island Air National Guard units to continue their clean up and recovery operations. "The most rewarding thing is going in there and being able to solve their problems,” said Lt. Col. Paul Waite, director of operations for the 248th.
In August, Capt. Melvin Carden, a 248th civil engineering officer, continued the flight’s ongoing support of a joint mission at Camp Cobra, Israel. Carden provided consultation on a base master plan and conducted a design cost analysis. When completed, Camp Cobra will be a joint base shared between the Israeli Defense Force and United States Air Force Europe Command.
Six members of the 248th, along with three members of the Missouri Air National Guard’s 231st Civil Engineer Flight, supported the city of Whittier, Alaska in September through the Innovative Readiness Training program. This program is designed to build collaborative relationships between the military and civilian communities, simultaneously providing the community with support and the military with training. The 248th provided full assessments of two buildings that the city had inherited from the United States military. The first and largest of the two buildings, the Buckner building, was built during World War II and was used to house soldiers.
After the Army was done with the building, the 275,000 square foot reinforced concrete building was gutted by a contractor and left to rot. The city of Whittier had hopes of salvaging and repurposing the building. However, after a full assessment of the damage, engineers from the 248th determined that it would cost more to repair the building than to build a new one, saving the city from a potentially disastrous and costly renovation attempt.
Furthermore, the team was able to identify unsafe environmental hazards, including lead-based paint and asbestos. They provided an assessment on how to handle that in a safe manner.
In their work both in the United State and overseas, members of the 248th draw on military training as well as their civilian backgrounds. "The great thing about an Air National Guard unit is we are all civilian engineers as well and we bring that experience with us, which is unique to the National Guard.” said Carden.
The 248th Civil Engineer Flight is a unit of the Washington Air Guard's 194th Wing. The Wing’s other missions include cyber operations, medical operations, mission support, and air support operations.
| Date Taken: | 01.28.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 01.28.2018 21:34 |
| Story ID: | 263624 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 503 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Air Guard Engineers aid in domestic, global missions, by TSgt Seth Bleuer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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