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CE Weekly Submission by 1st Lt Sean Donovan //
Readiness is a way of life, and failure is not an option for the Civil Engineer team at Al Dhafra AB, United Arab Emirates. With COVID-19 restrictions limiting global travel, the Mobile Training Teams traditionally charged with teaching Rapid Airfield Damage Recovery (RADR) were unable to visit Al Dhafra AB. Since persistent regional tensions have made RADR capabilities more relevant than ever, Airmen from the 380 ECES took it upon themselves to conduct RADR training.
“Our Engineers leveraged their knowledge and experience to teach each other the RADR skillset without the help of any outside instructors. I’m extremely proud of the learning and progress that our team has accomplished on such a short timeline,” explained SMSgt Jason Collins, 380 ECES Operations Flight Superintendent.
The 380 ECES S-Staff and SNCOs built a “crawl, walk, run” framework to guide their training, while still continuing to support regular operations. The curriculum started with short blocks of hands-on learning to familiarize personnel with their specific roles in the RADR operation. The squadron’s NCOs taught individual classes for each step in the process, allowing troops to build muscle memory and the small team cohesion needed to execute the chaotic repair phase. Experts within the squadron briefed each team on the entire airfield recovery procedure, so Airmen could understand where they fit into the “big picture.”
These instruction blocks accelerated into the “walk” phase on 04 Sep 2020. The squadron assembled a day and night shift under a typical base recovery scenario, and RADR teams convoyed out to the repair site. Once onsite, teams progressed through their duties at a slower, more methodical pace than would normally be used during an airfield repair situation. MSgt Timothy Brown, NCOIC of Pavements and Construction Equipment, stated “The squadron’s most experienced NCOs stood by to coach and tutor Airmen through their job. While the entire repair effort took more time than mission needs would typically dictate, the extended timeline offered more opportunities for our team to learn and improve their skills.” This drill marked the completion of the first in-house RADR training curriculum in the Central Command Area of Responsibility that was carried out by a Civil Engineer S-Staff organization.
Throughout the training process, the team overcame several other obstacles including equipment rendered inoperable by the extreme heat and humidity experienced during summer months in the UAE. “Our wheel saws suffered the most. The seals on the hydraulic lines ruptured and the repair could not be completed on base. But we looked at it as a chance to practice with our walk behind saw,” said MSgt Brown.
The next step for the 380th was to include a full-tempo RADR scenario in an upcoming base-wide operational readiness exercise. After the planning team learned the airfield was not an option for the exercise due to high operational tempo, they looked elsewhere for a site to practice and eventually settled on abandoned concrete tent pads. “We made do with what was available. While the tent pads were structurally different than airfield pavement, they still offered an opportunity to work on every step of the crater repair process,” said SMSgt Brian Bowler, 380 ECES Operations Engineering Superintendent. Future plans at Al Dhafra include construction of a mock runway for use in similar exercises. The RADR training area will be placed far enough away from the base populace to allow Engineers to complete the full spectrum of airfield recovery, including the live detonations involved in Rapid Explosive Hazard Mitigation.
“The hope is that this rotation’s training plan will serve as a blueprint for future Engineers at Al Dhafra and beyond,” said 1st Lt Sean Donovan, RADR OIC for the 380 ECES. “Since June, we’ve coached almost two hundred Airmen from basic equipment familiarization to the organized chaos that is RADR. We exercised the RADR C2 construct as part of the larger base incident management structure and identified a handful of best practices and improvement areas. Ultimately, our efforts have proven our ability to support strategic deterrence. We have shown aggressors that if we get knocked down, we’ll get right back up.”
| Date Taken: | 11.23.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 11.23.2020 09:30 |
| Story ID: | 383557 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 257 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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