More than 40 members of the 177th Civil Engineering (CE) Squadron deployed to Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall, Suffolk, England for two weeks of annual training July 22 to August 6.

      RAF Mildenhall was one of the many WW II bases used by the United States and the British Air Forces in their bombing campaign against the Nazis.

      The deployed CE troops are a cross-section of the entire Civil Engineering career spectrum, ranging from heavy equipment operators, firefighters, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning), explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), structures, power production, readiness and electricians.

      “This deployment provides us with multiple opportunities that we would not normally encounter at home-station,” said Chief Master Sgt. Donald Harris, 177th Chief of Civil Engineering.   “It allows our troops to work with systems that we would encounter when deployed abroad and it enables our younger Airmen to gain a broader perspective that would not be gained at home.”

      Except for CE Readiness, EOD, HVAC and the firefighters, the majority of the 177th team was assigned to the Civil Engineering Self Help Store.   Allen Preston, Self Help Manager, and liaison for all the visiting Air National Guard and Air Reserve CE units, assigned the 177th Airmen three projects: the dismantling and reassembling of a gazebo at a different location; grading and leveling the 60-acre site and finally, the finishing of the Self Help kitchen.

      “You guys are picking up what was left off from the last crews," stated Preston.   “Everything you folks do might not mean a lot to you, but for us it's saving us money."

      While the bulk of CE was working on the Self Help projects, the other CE Airmen were dispersed to various locations across the base.

      The firefighters served as backfill for the base firefighters who are serving in Iraq.   They spent the first two days learning about RAF Mildenhall firehouse specific procedures, familiarized themselves with the flightline and the procedures for dealing with emergencies on the KC-135R Stratotanker, the main aircraft at RAF Mildenhall.

      The HVAC Airmen performed emergency repairs and preventative maintenance on systems throughout the base.   While the 177th readiness Airmen assisted the 100th ARW CE Readiness shop studying potential threats that would affect deployed CE troops, the two-member 177th EOD team arrived at RAF Lakenheath just in time for the base's operational readiness inspection (ORI).   As a result, they had the opportunity to observe a USAFE ORI firsthand.

      After resting the weekend, the 177th Airmen finished the projects prior to returning to New Jersey.

Tech. Sgt. Bill Ericksen adjusts a load of dirt

before driving on the flightline.

Senior Airman Derek Amwake cuts a paver in preparation to finishing

the gazebo project by the RAF Mildenhall flightline.

Left to right: Senior Airman Stephen Lee directs while Master Sergeants' Paul Nieczpiel

and Raymond Gordon lower a fence post at the new gazebo.