Civil Engineers practice to maintain combat readiness

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class J. Zuriel Lee
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The 97th Civil Engineer Squadron conducted their monthly Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force training Feb. 19 to maintain combat readiness, providing training the Airmen need for supporting the beddown of air bases.

The squadron holds a quarterly competition between four flights based on the information and tactics learned during the quarter.

"The most important parts of our training are being attentive and using teamwork," said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Phillip Tinnin, who is an electrician for the 97th. "If we work together in Prime BEEF exercises, we can work together to complete our job."

The exercises for this month focused on large area searches, challenging an approaching vehicle, building defensive fighting positions and extracting unconscious victims.

"This training is about deployment and contingency readiness and these tie directly into the Altus mission," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Taylor Sickmeier, 97th structures shop craftsman.

A lot of this is in the computer based training, but it's hard to get a grasp of it without having the hands-on portion, said Sickmeier.

"It's hard to get the preparation for a deployed environment without the hands-on training we do once a month," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Pasha Hughes, 97th NCO in charge of surveying.

When the civil engineers deploy to warzones, they are required to set up bases themselves. This includes building the base and the flight line, as well as providing their own security.

As specified in Air Force Instruction 10-210, the document that specifies the requirements for the Air Force Prime BEEF program, the training ensures Airmen can perform the Air Force mission to their upmost capabilities.