307th, 301st civil engineers take their turn on a Mississippi project

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chad Miller
  • 307th Bomb Wing
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  The 307th Civil Engineering Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and the 301st Civil Engineering Squadron, Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, joined forces in Clarksdale, Miss., to help improve the city's airport late June and early July 2015.

Louisiana and Texas units continued the work perpetuated by previous CES rotations over the past three years. This joint effort is part of the Air Force Reserve Command's Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) initiative.

"It didn't take long for the two units to gel and our Airmen to start working like a well- oiled machine," said Senior Master Sgt. Danny Jones, 301 CES. "Within a few hours of arrival on-site, the Airmen were integrated and assigned to different crews. Those crews are working together like they've been in the same unit all along."

Enhancements included new aircraft hangar, construction of taxiway and runway areas and new lighting systems for both areas. Airfield improvements and new systems will support a fully functioning runway aligned with Federal Aviation Administration standards.

Expressing his pride Senior Airmen Bradley Morgan, a 307 CES equipment operator, said, "It was a good experience for us, as equipment operators, to be able work at different locations. This was our opportunity to show the city of Clarksdale that you can't spell success without CE!" 

IRT serves a dual purpose by helping underserved communities across the U.S. while giving Airmen valuable experience needed in a deployed environment through the completion of CES projects.

"Bringing multiple units and career fields together, coupled with the many design challenges makes their project more like a deployed location than a stateside project," said Chief Master Sgt. Norman Fink, IRT project manager.

Completion on the Clarksville airport project is expected in late September 2015.  Until then, other Air Force Reserve civil engineer units will rotate in over the summer. Their mission is to leave this community with a fully functioning hangar and airfield lighting system courtesy the U.S. Air Force Reserve Civil Engineers.