445 CES primes expeditionary skills with Navy seabees

  • Published
  • By Maj. Elizabeth Caraway
  • 445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Airmen from the 445th Civil Engineer Squadron joined with sailors from Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 10 to participate in bivouac, or campsite, training at the Warfighter Training Center here Sep 13-15. The training is the first bivouac training for the 445 CES at the WTC since 2006 and offered valuable skills to the 144 Airmen and 15 sailors.

During the three days of training, service members covered a wide array of topics ranging from tent set-up, damage assessment response, and land navigation, to radio communications, attack preparation, and self-aid and buddy care.

"I enjoy the more hands-on aspect of training here," said Staff Sgt. Michael Fetherolf, 445th CES engineering apprentice. "Getting out here, getting dirty...I love CE," he added.

Fetherolf, a civilian deputy sheriff with Franklin County, noted that CE learns a unique blend of skills during training due to their role as "back-up security forces." 

"CE Airmen, like cops, are class B shooters and train appropriately," he said.

Fetherolf also appreciated the chance to work with another service.

"I'd interacted with the Navy at tech school, and that was about it," he said. "But I just worked with a Sailor in the last exercise here."

The training also gives CE Airmen visibility into other specialties within civil engineering.

"This is definitely a great opportunity to communicate with the other components of CE and interact with people outside of our specific shop," said Staff Sgt. Mitchell Ruiz, who instructed on Alaskan shelter construction. Ruiz said he appreciated the advantages of training at the WTC.

"The warfighter training center is a huge training asset," agreed Master Sgt. Clay Bucy, 445 CES heavy equipment noncommissioned officer in charge. Bucy was part of the original team that built the WTC more than a decade ago, modeling it after Tyndall AFB's Silver Flag base. The 445th CES transformed the area from a deteriorating assemblage of hard-backed tents to solid barracks, a chow hall, shower facilities, administrative buildings, and a crucial "runway," which allows CE to practice runway repairs.

"The cost savings," said Bucy, "is significant. Without the WTC, we'd have to go to facilities in Michigan or Wisconsin for similar training." This was the first bivouac training at the WTC in nine years; Silver Flag and real world deployments have honed skills in the meantime, but Bucy hopes for greater 445th AW use of the training center in the future. "Security forces, services, and medical folks could all use this for regular training."

The 445th CES invited their naval counterparts to participate alongside them. NCHB 10, a component of the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group, is headquartered in Virginia, but the sailors who attended the bivouac training all drill in Columbus, Ohio.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for us to partner with the Air Force and build relationships with fellow service members," said Navy Lt. Glenn Conley, Expeditionary Support Company commander for NCHB 10.

Petty Officer Second Class Steven Peoples, a medical corpsman in the Navy Reserves, said he was enjoying the training because of the inter-service cooperation.

"I haven't spent much time with the Air Force, and it's been interesting seeing the different ways that the Air Force and Navy teach similar concepts and skills," Peoples said.  He left emergency room work after 11 years to work as a campus dining manager at Ohio State University during the week, but Peoples now teaches self-aid buddy care to fellow Sailors. He was looking forward to the SABC portion of bivouac training to see any Air Force variations. All in all, though, Peoples noted that the Air Force and Navy have one thing in common.

"The Airmen here are a good group of people and really demonstrate teamwork and an ability to operate together," he said.