Photo By Tech. Sgt. Noah Tancer | U.S. Army Spc. Derek Pendell, a plumber with the 1436th Engineer Vertical Construction...... read more read more
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One man can shoulder the world but without a friend, he’d never get to see it. The U.S. military’s strength comes from each branch helping each other to lift the mission to a height that all the world can see.
USCENTCOM reestablished its presence on Prince Sultan Air Base in 2019, after being bestowed plots of land by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In three years the empty plots are now home to Joint U.S. Forces, making up a land-and-air power presence on par with other U.S. bases in the Southwest Asia Theatre.
But PSAB wasn’t built in a day or by one hand of command. PSAB’s various plots have been built together and apart by Airmen and Soldiers alike.
Yet interoperability has shown through in that today the 378th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron and 1436th Engineer Vertical Construction Company work side by side almost every day.
“After finishing a few projects we asked the 1436th EVCC for support on, their leadership mentioned that their engineers liked the work and wanted to do more together,” said Maj. Andrew Folz, the operations flight commander with the 378th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron. “My superintendent then floated the idea of embedding soldiers in our shops to assist with maintenance tasks.”
The 1436th EVCC augments a variety of 378th ECES shops, including the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning shop, the pavements and construction equipment shop, the structures shop, and the water and fuel systems shop.
“There are a million ways to skin a cat,” said Warrant Officer Ted Schroeder, a construction engineering technician with the 1436th EVCC. “What I mean is everybody brings their own experience from wherever they come from. Working together here at PSAB we’ve gotten to share our tips and tricks both ways, from Army to Air Force and Air Force to Army.”
The 378th ECES’s mission is to provide the facilities and infrastructure required to make PSAB a ready, robust, and resilient warfighting platform in AFCENT’s area of responsibility.
“My Airmen are learning the importance of teambuilding with other services as well as being challenged with new ways of accomplishing tasks,” said Maj. Folz. “With the 1436th’s support, our operations flight was able to increase workload by over 2,000 work hours and knock out an additional 3,200 service calls and maintenance tasks from June to August.”
The 1436th EVCC is made up of heavy equipment operators, masons, carpenters, electricians and plumbers whose mission is vertical and horizontal construction in support of ARCENT’s manpower and assets.
“Not only has this experience helped my Joes out,” said Schroeder. “There’s been a lot of equipment sharing too, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish a few projects we had here if it wasn’t for the Air Force’s initial effort of helping us borrow some equipment.”
Each branch has different rank insignias to denote its chain of command and different acronyms or jargon for the same tools, jobs or procedures. Working in a joint atmosphere helps each branch build understanding, continuity and mutual respect vital to both their current and future joint missions deployed or stateside.
“We are thankful for the opportunity to not only build projects but build professional relationships between the Soldiers and Airmen deployed here at PSAB,” said Schroeder. Or as Folz said it, “Teaming up with the 1436th, we’ve increased our ability to make improvements for all PSAB residents and gained the trust of a vital mission partner.”
Though PSAB will remain semi-permanent, construction and maintenance occur to accept follow-on forces, increase air and land power capabilities, and reaffirm the U.S.’s growing partnership with the KSA. Together the 378th ECES and 1436th EVCC lay the foundation and raise the framework of USCENTCOM’s mission of regional stability to a height all partner nations and potential aggressors can see.
| Date Taken: | 09.14.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.14.2022 03:14 |
| Story ID: | 429263 |
| Location: | PRINCE SULTAN AIR BASE, SA |
| Web Views: | 503 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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