Prime BEEF a recipe for success

Airmen with the 28th Civil Engineer Squadron litter carry a training dummy during the Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force (BEEF) challenge at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., July 22, 2016. The purpose of the Prime BEEF challenge is a way to put field experience to the test in a competitive environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Donald Knechtel)

28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
July 29, 2016

ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. | The Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force challenge kicked off at Ellsworth AFB July 22 with more than 130 participants.

Prime BEEF teams consist of 28th Civil Engineer Squadron personnel who are organized, equipped and trained to respond within hours to worldwide emergencies and to support the Air Force's mission with base build-up, sustainment and recovery operations.

The challenge they underwent consisted of endurance events such as Self Aid Buddy Care, a realistic simulation of providing medical care to victims in a Humvee accident, and the M4 relay, which simulated a weapon system being down and bringing it back up to an operational level.

“The purpose of the Prime BEEF challenge is a way to put field experience to the test in a competitive environment,” said Master Sgt. Mitchell Meis, 28th CES emergency readiness chief.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, during events such as the Berlin Crisis, Lebanon Crisis and Cuban Missile Crisis, aircraft and support personnel were being deployed without runways, water supply, electricity, housing and other facilities necessary to support them. Civil engineer personnel we needed to rapidly respond and provide basing facilities. The Air Force's answer was the Prime BEEF program.

Members of Prime BEEF have proven it to be one of the Air Force’s most versatile and productive programs by providing bed-down of small structures and sustainment resources in a deployed environment. In 2014, the Prime BEEF challenge at Ellsworth was created by Robert Cronan, retired Chief Master Sgt., as a way to train 28th CES personnel on various disaster scenarios.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to experience front-line emergencies,” said Airman 1st Class Willie Lyons, 28th CES customer service technician.

Lyons also mentioned it helps Airmen prepare for deployment, and helps prevent them from being thrown into something unexpected.

“It started in 2014 as a way to challenge shops within the squadron on scenarios that may happen in a battlefield environment,” Meis said.

Meis explained the challenges’ importance, stating it also builds morale and promotes esprit de corps for the Airmen through healthy competition.

“I feel the challenge builds confidence in our personnel by coming together and doing a field day that is challenging, morale building, and also serves to educate our civil engineers on expeditionary war time tasks,” Meis said.

Airmen treat wounds on volunteer casualties at the Self Aid Buddy Care (SABC) station during the Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force (BEEF) challenge at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., July 22, 2016. The Prime BEEF challenge consists of five events such as the Litter Carry, Six Passenger Push, SABC, M4 relay and Battle Buddy stations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Donald Knechtel)

Camp Guernsey hosts transient firefighters

A wildland firefighting crew from New Jersey loads its gear and prepares to depart for one of the many fires burning in the region at the temporary Rocky Mountain Area Mobilization Center at Guernsey. Camp Guernsey JTC staff worked quickly to accommodate the emergency management effort. (Wyoming Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jimmy McGuire)

WY, UNITED STATES
08.02.2016
Story by Sgt. 1st Class James McGuire
Wyoming National Guard

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - While most of Wyoming's wild land firefighting assets are engaged with fires, and a very high fire danger level is in effect
throughout much of the Cowboy State, Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center quickly made arrangements to support a request to become a staging area for firefighting crews from around the country.

Camp Guernsey operations officer Maj. Michael Fields said the request was received July 28 and the following day 123 firefighters were flown in from Eastern states, ready to be dispatched from Guernsey to anywhere in the six-state Rocky Mountain region of the U.S. Forest Service's jurisdiction.

"We waived the 30-day rule to reserve facilities on camp. Billeting said
they had rooms and the dining facility assured us they could support them," said Fields.
"They may be staying here minutes to days," said R.J. Johnson, a fire
equipment research and development manager from the Bureau of Land
Management in Idaho, and the manager of the Rocky Mountain Area Mobilization Center at Guernsey.

"The mission is to marry up fire crews with tools and transportation and to take care of all their logistical needs," added Johnson.

The crews, currently from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and West Virginia, are flown to Casper, Wyoming, and then bused to Camp Guernsey where they await dispatch to a 14-day assignment at any of the numerous fires burning in the region.

"This is an ideal central spot where we can round up a couple hundred
people, give them a bed and shower, feed them and get them on the buses," said Gary Hobbs, Wyoming State Forestry Task Force leader, who is assisting the coordination effort at Guernsey.

"Billeting and the (dining facility) have been outstanding. We had a crew
come in last night that got a couple bites of dinner down and got called up. It's very fluid here. Others might sit and wait for a while."

Numbers have fluctuated over the first few days from 123 to 185 firefighters staged at Guernsey. Hobbs said the effort may last through August depending on the fire situation.

The Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center services Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas and North and South Dakota.

R.J. Johnson, a fire equipment research and development manager from the Bureau of Land Management in Idaho, tracks crews and assignments at the temporary Rocky Mountain Area Mobilization Center at Guernsey, where wildland firefighters are staging for assignment to fires in the region. Camp Guernsey JTC staff worked quickly to accommodate the emergency management effort. (Wyoming Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jimmy McGuire)

Gary Hobbs, Wyoming State Forestry Task Force Leader, briefs Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center leaders on the status of the temporary Rocky Mountain Area Mobilization Center at Guernsey, where wildland firefighters are staging for assignment to fires in the region. Hobbs is a former fire chief with the Wyoming Army National Guard and was assigned to Camp Guernsey. (Wyoming Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jimmy McGuire)

Navy pilot safely ejects before fighter crash in Nevada

US Navy 040225-N-9907G-001 An F-A-18C Hornet assigned to the Strike Fighter Squadron One Five (VFA-15) makes its final approach before landing. From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

FALLON, Nev. — A Navy pilot has safely ejected from a fighter jet that crashed in the northern Nevada desert during a training mission near the Fallon Naval Air Station. Air station spokesman Joseph Vincent confirmed the F/A-18C Hornet crashed about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday about 10 miles southeast of the naval base in Fallon, about 60 miles east of Reno. Vincent says the pilot was returning to the base from a routine training mission when he was forced to eject from the aircraft.
Ground crews picked him up. Vincent has no details on the pilot's condition. He says he was taken to a clinic on the base, then transferred to Banner Churchill Regional Medical Center in Fallon.
The plane is attached to the Naval Aviation War-fighting Development Center based at Fallon NAS.
The accident remains under investigation.

Team McChord Firefighters leave legacy

Active duty and retired Air Force firefighters at McChord Field receive recognition for their service during a memorial ceremony July 26, 2016, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. The ceremony commemorated the service of Air Force firefighters that have served at JBLM and concluded Air Force firefighter’s service before they are reassigned. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Jacob Jimenez)

By Senior Airman Jacob Jimenez,
62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Published August 01, 2016

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. --
Firefighters from the 627th Civil Engineering Squadron memorialized their time serving at Joint Base Lewis-McChord July 29, at a memorial ceremony held at the McChord Field Fire Station 105.

The ceremony commemorated the service of Air Force firefighters that have served here and concluded Air Force firefighter’s service at JBLM as they are reassigned.

“This ceremony highlighted 70 years of amazing service and the legacy they leave behind,” said Col. Leo Kosinski, 62nd Airlift Wing commander. “Many of our civilian firefighters are prior Airmen and will carry on this legacy.”

By the end of July 2017, all Airmen firefighters currently stationed here will be assigned to new bases. The ceremony highlighted their service and payed tribute to all Air Force firefighters that have served here.

“During my time as their commander, our Air Force firefighters have definitely demonstrated time and time again, that they are credible engineers and the many missions we support don’t just happen with us,” said Lt. Col. Michael Francis, 627th Civil Engineer Squadron commander. “To our Air Force firefighters and their families I will continue to lead and serve you through this newest change until the very last one of you leaves McChord.”

Serving at a joint base, Air Force firefighters have received many unique training opportunities that provides them an additional depth of experience to take with them to their new assignments, said Francis.

“They have had amazing access to training opportunities and real-world experience not afforded to all Air Force firefighters at other installations,” said Francis. “This not only makes them better as they respond to on base medical emergencies, but also as they arrive on scene of motor vehicle accidents along the I-5 corridor to extricate victims and stabilize them for transport, sometimes for life-threatening injuries.”      

Reflecting on the accomplishments of Air Force firefighters here, Francis spoke about the many awards and recognition's they’ve received serving as a joint base.

“Just recently we finalized the 2015 awards year and once again the Air Force came out on top with Senior Airman Thomas Kaye winning the firefighter of the year award and Master Sergeant Jose Cardenas fire officer of the year award, both at the Department of the Army level,” said Francis. “All of these individual accolades would not be possible without the mentorship and deliberate development made by the entire firefighting team, military and civilian, working together.”

Celebrating past and present Air Force firefighters who’ve serve here, the ceremony concluded in the unveiling of the Air Force firefighter’s Legacy Monument to be constructed on McChord Field. The monument will represent all the Air Force firefighters that have served here to memorialize their legacy. The monument will be a set of firefighter bunker gear, set in bronze and mounted atop a large rock. On the front of the monument will be a plaque that reads, “This memorial is dedicated to honor the legacy of the U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Air Force firefighters who served valiantly at McChord Field from 1946-2017”. Below this it will display the Air Force firefighter’s motto: “Serving with courage, integrity and pride.”

“I’ve worked at every station on JBLM and gained great experience from the civilians here through learning different aspects of firefighting,” said Senior Airman James Salazar, 627th CES firefighter. “Most of the guys here are prior Air Force and it’s good to know they are going to keep that tradition alive and morale high.”

Lt. Col. Michael Francis, 627th Civil Engineer Squadron commander, recognizes Air Force firefighters who have served at McChord Field, during a memorial ceremony July 26, 2016, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Air Force firefighters have served at McChord since 1946 and will no longer be assigned to JBLM by July 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Jacob Jimenez)

Air Force firefighters from the 627th Civil Engineer Squadron unveil a rendering of the Legacy Monument during a memorial ceremony, July 26, 2016, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. The Legacy Monument will be constructed in front of Station 105 on McChord Field to memorialize the legacy of Air Force firefighters who served at McChord from 1946-2017. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Jacob Jimenez)

Deployments leave firefighters undermanned, reservists step in to help

Members of the 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron pose for a photo with some of their Air Force Reserve counterparts, July 1, 2016, at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan. The reservists worked with McConnell AFB firefighters after deployments left the department undermanned. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman Erin McClellan)

MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, KS, UNITED STATES
Story by Airman Erin McClellan
22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

At first, assistance was requested from the Air National Guard, but when they were unable to provide support, the reservists were called in to backfill the spots the deployed Airmen left empty.

“Our manning affects our ability to perform our job,” said Senior Master Sgt. Brent Hardsaw, 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron deputy fire chief. “To get six [reservists] was extremely helpful. As far as filling those manpower requirements, they helped us tremendously.”

Without enough people on shift at the fire department, there may not be an adequate amount of firefighters to respond to an aircraft emergency, meaning the mission could be majorly impacted or even halted.
“It could ultimately shut down the airfield,” said Master Sgt. Gerald Wile, 944th CES assistant chief of health and safety. “If there’s not enough people, then aircraft can’t fly because there’s no fire protection. That’s what we’re here for: ‘What if something goes wrong?’ It’s a very important part of the entire Air Force mission.”

In addition to helping on the job, the reservists helped prevent McConnell’s Airmen from overworking themselves by having to compensate for being shorthanded.

“A lot of times when you lose a large number of people, the ones at home have to pick up that slack,” said Hardsaw. “With those guys here we don’t have to stop things like leave and days off, so we can continue to keep up the morale here.”

Nearing the end of the six-month stretch, the fire department showed their appreciation for the reservists’ hard work by holding a going away lunch and presenting them with plaques. In return, the department was presented with a gift from the reservists; a wooden call box customized to represent that the reserve is always ready to help active duty Airmen.

“It’s humbling to be recognized by the active duty for what we’ve done and it makes me feel good,” said Wile. “We didn’t just show up to make money or to go on vacation. We did things for the unit above and beyond what was expected of us.”
By blending together people with different backgrounds and experiences, it allowed everyone involved to grow as individuals and as firefighters.

“Coming out here gave me an opportunity to see different aircraft and learn new techniques,” said Staff Sgt. Cheyne Baumgart, 349th Civil Engineer Squadron driver engineer. “Everybody does things a little bit differently and I got to work with people who have been doing it forever. When I go home, I get to bring that back to my troops and my civilian department.”

Spending time working together enabled all the Airmen to build relationships with each other that may make it hard to say goodbye now that the reservists are heading home.

“From the minute I got off the plane, everybody has gone out of their way to help us out,” said Baumgart. “There’s a real camaraderie here, and it was a pleasure to be part of this fire department. I made great friends that I’m going to miss. I had a great time; it’s going to be sad leaving here.”