LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- The 19th Civil Engineer Squadron conducted a back-to-basics bivouac training event to build upon their foundational skills and sharpen the unit’s expeditionary and combat readiness, Oct. 18-21.
During the four-day, three-night field exercise, Airmen received instruction on weapons familiarization and proficiency firing; tactical combat casualty care; land navigation; convoy operations; integrated base defense; vehicle search procedures; and shoot, move, and communicate drills. This training then culminated in a hostile environment exercise lead by the squadron’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.
Members from the squadron saw the exercise as an opportunity to hone their skills on not only the fundamental aspects of their core mission but expound upon their readiness mindset while fostering stronger unity throughout squadron.
"We have a good baseline for our tactics and expectations for our squadron," said Capt. Chad Colocar, 19th CES operations flight commander and exercise camp mayor. "We do this to stay proficient in basic base defense operations, convoys and other procedures. This is something we frequently do to stay competent in our fundamentals."
Civil engineer Airmen play a critical role in deployed environments, by often times, being the first boots on the ground – tasked with opening and constructing a bare base under contested conditions.
"We can be sent anywhere, anytime, to do anything that is requested of us, so we need to be ready for it," said Master Sgt. David Salser, 19th CES infrastructure superintendent and exercise coordinator. "We're Airmen first, and that's what this training is teaching us to be so that we can help our fellow Airmen and get the mission done."
As the Air Force looks toward tomorrow's fight across multiple domains, the 19th CES will continue to build and develop Airmen that are called upon in today’s fight, ensuring their readiness by committing foundational skills to muscle memory if needed in a contested arena.
"The intent behind this exercise was to train for the possibility of whatever can happen," Salser said. "If we only train for the things that are likely to happen, then we wouldn't be ready for the possibility of anything that could happen."
Colocar noted that this exercise was foundational for civil engineers at LRAFB, adding that many real-world experiences from conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan were built into the training curriculum to give exposure to younger Airmen.
Moving forward, the 19th CES continues to look outside the box and expand upon how civil engineer Airmen can further train to be a capable, guiding force across the Air Force.
"There were a lot of lessons learned," Colocar said. "Next time we do this, we know what things we can improve on as well as what we can set as a new standard operating procedure. We inevitably are hoping to set the baseline of what Multi-Capable Airmen should look like."