Front the frontlines: CES work outside the wire

  • Published
  • By Army Sgt John D. Ortiz
  • U.S. Army
LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanitan --  With a cut of a circular saw, a swing of a hammer, and the vibrating sound of a reciprocating saw seven Air Force engineers demolished walls and ripped out wooden planks to make room for an idea as members of the Joint Operations Center for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division would often look up from their work stations with earplugs in and a fascinated look on their face.

On his many battlefield circulation trips Col. Mark H. Landes, the Task Force Bulldog Brigade Commander acquired an idea to create an open space in the operations center so people could readily hold huddles and discuss current operations and a way ahead.

"It's really all about giving the guys in the JOC a way to better track all the units in the battlefield and have more situational awareness," said Landes as he walked in on a
flurry of activity. "It's the sights and sounds of progress."

The Air Force engineers, whose specialties range from electrical, structural, and plumbing assigned to the 577th Expeditionary Prime Beef Squadron is a group of reservists from all over America where demolishing and rebuilding is all in a day's work.

"I absolutely get job satisfaction," said Air Force Master Sgt. Michael Caume, a resident of Blue Springs, Mo., and an electrician who has spent the past decade and half in the military. "People are really appreciative of the work we do. They often times are living out in an austere environment and it's great to help them with basic living amenities."

As a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Caume brings little tips and tricks to get jobs done fast and efficient and share with other electrical engineers in the unit.

"I love doing this job, because it's better than just being stuck in one place and becoming complacent because we are always out on missions tacking different problems and working together to solve them," he said.

"Whenever we get somewhere we immediately meet with the mayor cell and sergeant majors and have them show us where we can make the most impact by giving us problems to fix," said Caume.

The Airman, who deploys as part of a civil engineer team, typically has worked in the construction industry for more than 10 years; often times has a two or more construction degrees, and is self-employed; either owning or working in a family - run construction business.

"We always look for work wherever we go - fixing pumps or replacing a building's electrical wiring, it really is all in a day's work," said Tech. Sgt. Daniel Romine, a Farmington, Mo., native and electrical technician with the 577th EPBS.

"This unit is comprised mostly of reservists; a lot of noncommissioned officers who have the technical ability to get a job done without a lot of on the job training," said Romine. He is part of the 442 Fighter Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., when he is not deployed. "You'll find a lot of us have prior experience in our civilian life because most of times we work for a construction business."

This intimate knowledge of construction is a blessing when there are too many requirements and two few personnel and resources.

"Sometimes you go out to a combat outpost and there are only three of us: a structures guy, plumber, and electrician, and we just have to help each other finish the job," said Romine.

For Pittsburgh native Frank Monacelli, a structures specialist on his second deployment, working with a civil engineer unit is all about increasing the quality of life.

"Normally in the Air Force, we are assigned to do all the maintenance for a base, but here we are able to go travel and work in a broader area to maintain the smaller combat outposts," he said.

Monacelli, a veteran of 16 years, joined the Air Force to see the world, get out of his hometown, and skip class for a day. "An Air Force recruiter came by and told me he could get me out of class for a day, so I did that, listened to what he had to say and really never looked back."

His first mission in Afghanistan was to go to COP Blessing. "No power, no running water, no chow hall; eating was a MRE. We did a two-day assessment and went back to our forward operating base, grabbed a bunch of materials and within a week had ten showers, six toilets, four sinks, eight washers and dryers and established a power grid."

"We really helped them out, and it was pretty impressive with what we were able to do," said Monacelli. "The Army guys were really hospitable and very grateful after we helped fixed a lot of damaged equipment."

With Afghanistan being a land-locked country, almost every construction item is either trucked through Pakistan or delivered by air. Often times due to weather and cloud cover that obscures 9,500 ft. mountain ranges, helicopters cannot deliver needed building supplies.

"We don't have a Home Depot here in Afghanistan," he said. "So whenever we have a job to finish but no construction material, we just look around the forward operating base or combat outpost and try and reuse whatever we can and use basic parts and pieces for a short term fix while we wait for materials to arrive."

"One of the cool things we do when we are headed to a construction site is to use the helicopters we fly in as service trucks loaded full of parts, ladders, and equipment and make a home delivery to where the troops need us the most," said Monacelli.

He added that, "this is the best job in the world because we get out to all the combat outposts and forward operating bases that don't have showers, don't have laundry or running water and help make the quality of life better for the guys that are really fighting the war and give them the basic amenities that a lot of people take for granted."

An idea from a battlefield circulation to a reality in record time - 68 hours for a remodel of the JOC; a record for which the engineers with the 577th EPBS can be proud.