Photo By Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Alder | RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – U.S. Air Force Airman Senior Airman Josef Segura and...... read more read more
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RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, GERMANY -- Ramstein Air Base is known as “The Gateway to Europe,” a gateway that is always under lock and key. A small shop, tucked away within the 786th Civil Engineer Squadron holds the keys to this gateway.
Locksmiths with the 786th Civil Engineer Squadron are always ready to solve an issue with a lock or key anywhere on the installation at any time of the day.
"The locksmith shop is the key to the entire base," said Senior Airman Josef Segura, 786th CES structural journeyman. "We provide maintenance, installation, surety, and security to the entire installation."
Segura has been working with the locksmith section for two years, which has provided him with ample on-the-job-training and valuable insight of the installation.
“What works one day on one particular job may not work for others,” said Segura. “The job forces me to be a problem solver and to learn new things every day.”
The lock shop sees a variety of lock related issues. Jobs involve re-keying locks, installing cypher locks, re-pinning cylinders, opening locked safes, or responding to lockouts.
“You’re somebody’s help in that particular moment when they’re locked out of their room or facility, and they might have to go to 24-hour operations to secure that facility,” said Segura. “You become someone’s hero in that moment.”
Not all jobs result in fixing the lock itself. Sometimes the jobs require brute force tactics to get a door open.
“We usually snap a cylinder in a door as a last resort to get a lock to open,” said Airman 1st Class Colby Jackson, 786th CES structural apprentice. “The process involves using a breaking kit to snap the lock cylinder in half, pretty aggressively, and attacking the tenon inside the handle to get the door open.”
It’s not always door locks that require brute force. Lockouts with safes happen from time to time, and the 786th CES lock shop has to breach those as well.
“Safe lockouts are rare, but when they happen, we have to resort to stronger tools like drills and circular saws,” said Segura. “Today we had to breach a locked document safe using a saw to attack the locking pins inside the door and get it to open”.
The trade of locksmithing changes from installation to installation. Not all locks and mechanisms are the same, so it takes locksmiths time and experience to get to know the needs of each location.
“When you go back to the states, the knowledge we learn about the locks here aren’t the same,” said Jackson. “The German locks here have slightly different mechanisms, so lockpicking skill sets are different.”
To become a locksmith, Airmen in the 786th CES rotate from the structures team to man the lock shop.
“We have a specialized schoolhouse we can go to for GSA locks,” said Jackson. “We have a bunch of different classes and certifications we can take in order to increase our knowledge of being a locksmith.”
Despite the high pace of the job, locksmiths on Ramstein find the job fulfilling on a deeper level and very rewarding.
“You have to be creative and use your brain with this job,” said Segura. “I’ve become a master problem solver because of this job.”
Locked out and unsure what to do? The locksmiths at the 786th CES structures section are only a phone call away at 489-6623.
| Date Taken: | 08.17.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.31.2022 11:04 |
| Story ID: | 428379 |
| Location: | DE |
| Web Views: | 106 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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