Faces of the 442d Fighter Wing: Meet Staff Sgt. Caleb Werdehausen

  • Published
  • By Mr. Clarence Valelo
  • 442d Fighter Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  Meet Staff Sgt. Caleb Werdehausen, a water and fuel systems maintenance craftsman with the 442d Civil Engineer Squadron.

442d Fighter Wing Public Affairs: “What’s your background?”
Staff Sgt. Caleb Werdehausen: “I’ve been here since 2014, I did six years active duty as aircraft maintenance working on F-16’s while stationed in Germany. I decided to get out and go to reserves and cross trained over to something that translated on to the civilian side.”

PA: “So you chose CE?”
W: “Yes, I wanted something that was more hands on.”

PA: “What would you say is the most interesting part about your job?”
W: “The best thing about the job is the diversity of things you can do while you’re on orders. Sometimes during annual tour we get to do some rare things like pour concrete. When you go out you never really know what you’re going to do. There is so many different opportunities you can be a part of like working on fire suppressants or digging up water mains. The Air Force Reserve is a unique opportunity for a lot of people, cause you still have a civilian career, you can pursue college you can do this one weekend a month and two weeks a year and you would still have your orders that you can go on. Coming over from the active duty side over to this gives you more opportunities for growth.”

PA: “Do you have any goals or future plans in mind?”
W: “I’m kind of fluid with my future plans right now, but I am just trying to get as much experience as I can when I am here.”

PA: “What do you do in your civilian life?”
W: “I work at Honeywell, I inspect the non-nuclear components for the nuclear warheads. I like what my civilian job is, it does not translate over to this at all, it just worked out that way which was interesting. This is real world hands-on experience that you would use, say I want to build a house later which I do, I am going to need to learn how to pour concrete, or lay drainage systems.”

PA: “So you’re using this experience for one of your long term goals of building a house?”
W: “Yes, especially the context now that I am thinking, the friends and the different relationships that I am building, I’ll be able to call anyone of these guys up and ask them for help or if I have a question, I’ve done that plenty of times.”