Structures Airmen preparing for deployment

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap
  • 931st Air Refueling Group Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  In less than a year, many 931st Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen expect to be supporting contingencies in Iraq. The deployment includes an extensive preparation schedule.

That's what all the banging and sawing was about this past drill weekend at the 931st Civil Engineer Squadron's headquarters building here. The squadron's structures team started construction of a small building to train for their turn in the sand.

It's the type of project a 17-year CE veteran like Master Sgt. Cindi Schlitz has worked on "many, many times." She's also an Iraq veteran helping lead the 931st structures team deployment preparations.

"We will be building huts over there," she said. "They'll be much bigger than this."

Knowing how to layout and rough frame are valuable skills, Sergeant Schlitz said, that Airman can develop with smaller projects before they deploy. The training is especially important for young deployers like Airman 1st Class Keating, who joined the 931st in May.

At his recently-finished job specialty school, "I built one wall," the 21-year-old Waverly, Kan., native said near the end of the August drill weekend. "Here, I've been involved in the entire thing."

Staff Sgt. Brett Brittian, another team member and Iraq veteran who deployed to Balad in 2006, worked closely with Airman Keating during the August drill.

"(This training) will help him a lot," Sergeant Brittian said. "He could be a lead on a three-man crew."

The benefits of small-scale structures projects are many. The team built an entire frame inside a squadron garage, for example, avoiding the summer sun and the rain that threatened all weekend.

"Now that we got it built," Sergeant Schlitz said, "we can put it up on a forklift and move it where we want."

Small huts also consume less of Reservists' limited training time. Sergeant Schlitz expects her team to finish the structural parts of the building during the 931st's weekend training assembly in September. Other engineers from their squadron, such as plumbers and electricians, will then be able to train while completing the building.

"We're going to get quite a few (job specialties) in there," Sergeant Schlitz said. "Which is always a good thing."

Once finished, the transportable building can be used for training events throughout McConnell AFB. Structures team members expect it to be incorporated into their squadron's upcoming bivouac. 


Slideshow
Click here to see more photos of 931st structures Airmen training for deployment.