241st Civil Engineer Squadron Deploys To Okinawa For Annual Training
Story by Maj Michael Moran, Photos by Cpt Craig Fery - Posted Sep, 2000
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Thirty- six members of the 241st Civil Engineer Squadron, headquartered at Camp Murray, Tacoma WA, deployed to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa recently to provide construction support to Detachment 1, Pacific Air Forces Civil Engineer Squadron (PACAF CES), the cadre who run the Silver Flag Exercise Training Site. During their 2 weeks in Japan, the engineers of the 241st completed ten projects and started an additional two projects at the training site to provide future classes with better training facilities.
Silver Flag is an exercise run once every two years for active duty Air Force civil engineers, and every three years for their reserve component counterparts. It provides an opportunity for airmen in each of the civil engineering specialties to gets hands-on training on contingency equipment.
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The training started with a 'force bed-down' exercise where the unit set up their own tent city, and culminated in a 'contingency readiness' exercise, during which the individual students come together as units and react to missions given by the cadre. Kadena Air Base is host to one of three Silver Flag sites worldwide, and provides valuable train-up to CE and Services units preparing to deploy in support of the Air Expeditionary Force.
To provide this training, the site needs to maintain quality facilities. The projects that the 241st CES built included replacing a pavilion roof that was torn off by a recent typhoon, installing a new roof and siding on the 'smokehouse' used for firefighter training, pouring eight different concrete pads for training equipment sites, enlarging a conference room, enclosing a 16 ft by 32 ft storage shed, and re-building a rappelling tower.
The projects provided a great opportunity to train on carpentry, use of heavy equipment and to hone concrete skills. There was also an opportunity for some individuals to cross-train on jobs apart from their usual duties.
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The cadre of Detachment 1, PACAF CES provided outstanding support throughout the deployment. They planned the projects well in advance, met the unit when they arrived over the weekend, and had the majority of the materials and tools required pre-positioned at the work site so the 241st could get straight to work.
It is the nature of the National Guard that any time lost to travel and preparation equates directly to lost training time. The cadre's prior planning and resourcing maximized training time. This, in turn, allowed the Guardsmen to complete more projects for them, making the deployment mutually beneficial.
After hours, the Guardsmen explored the island of Okinawa. Okinawa is located almost 1000 miles south of Tokyo, and is the largest island south of the main Japanese islands. It is centrally located between most of the major Asian port cities, and has a rich heritage of international maritime trade. Because of it's strategic location, it was the site of one of the largest and most important battles of World War II, as it was the last defense before the Japanese mainland.
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Most of the unit had the opportunity to tour some of these battlefields, as well as some of the local castles and temples. All in all, it was an excellent deployment.
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