The 922nd Civil Engineer Squadron’s Staff Augmentation Team (S-Team) continues to proudly represent March Air Reserve Base with worldwide engineering successes. As one of three Air Force Reserve S-Teams, the 922nd provides staff augmentation to combatant commands in the form of engineering management, planning and Command and Control (C2) services. The 922 CEF is a small unit with a big mission whose reach is truly worldwide, from the most active Area of Responsibilities, such as U.S. Central Command, to engineering planning and exercise execution in Korea to its home state of California. The 922 CEF is assigned primarily to Pacific Air Forces but is active at many additional commands and regions. Assigned projects support international and local communities and help manage facility construction. This type of mission requires a unit with members versed in a diversity of capabilities and backgrounds.
Members of 922 CEF successfully concluded a multi-year U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) deployment cycle, with a total of 13 members deployed since Jan. 1, 2013. That may seem like a small number at first glance, but this amounts to approximately half of the unit. Their last member to return home, Lt. Col. Anthony Chin, contributed a great deal to the CE mission in CENTCOM. While deployed, Chin, serving as the deputy commander of the 577th Expeditionary Prime Beef Squadron, oversaw three construction teams at more than 29 locations in nine different countries. His teams completed in excess of $2.2 million in construction projects and managed an additional $2 million worth of projects awaiting construction. One of his teams, the 577th Expeditionary Prime BEEF Squadron, J2 retrograded various tension-fabric shelters throughout the Area of Operations and saved the Air Force more than $17 million in material and contract costs.
Several other recent 922 CEF deployed members contributed significantly to combat missions during the past year, one of whom is Maj. Jack Barnett. He deployed to Afghanistan and served as the construction operations lead with his Army counterparts monitoring ongoing construction projects throughout Afghanistan.
“Don’t get caught up in your own service mentality. Be open to the joint environment, sharing knowledge and culture as routinely as possible,” Barnett said, stressing the importance of working as a team with the Army.
Additionally, Capt. Justin Eise was instrumental in CENTCOM success, leading engineer forces in transforming a caretaker base to combat operations located within a coalition country’s borders.
The 922 CEF S-Team also has significant presence in Pacific Command (PACOM). This summer, the 922 CEF is leading collocated operating base site surveys on the Korean peninsula, while also playing important roles in the KEY RESOLVE and ULCHI FREEDOM GUARDIAN exercises.
Currently the unit is supporting the Defense Department’s Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program, providing technical engineering resources as well as construction management assistance to the IRT program managers and lead RED HORSE squadrons for two regional IRT projects.
The first clears decades of debris from the Santa Rosa Dam site located near Hemet, to help the tribal sponsor restore operating conditions. The second, near San Marcos, Air Force Reserve engineers are clearing the site and performing initial construction for the 20-acre Training, Education, Research and Innovation (TERI) campus of life, where the goal is to improve the quality of life for children and adults with developmental and learning disabilities such as autism.
For both projects, the 922 CEF is providing support with safety, quality and construction management plans, recurring site visits and technical engineering resources. For example, the TERI site required special attention to geotechnical and surface soil conditions, for which the S-Team helped effectively plan.
The 922 CEF also acknowledges the importance of training with sister services such as the Army and Navy. In February, a groundbreaking training event took place when March’s S-Team hosted the Army Corps of Engineers Northwest Division Field Engineer Support Team (FEST-A). The S-Team and FEST-A conducted a four-day joint engineer training which included overviews of Army and Air Force capabilities and doctrines. Team March provided great support, including allowance to orient Army personnel to features of the active runway like runway lighting, pavements and aircraft arresting systems, as well as an outstanding overview of Bare Base Assets at the California Air National Guard Regional Training Site. The week concluded with a capstone, joint exercise where joint force engineers prepared a base for the reception of kinetic airpower and Army Stryker Brigade Combat Team missions.
The seven-hour exercise was highly realistic, testing the joint team’s ability to integrate, plan for incoming forces, develop logistics, manage construction, design new facilities and effectively develop a Reception, Staging and Onward Integration bed-down location. The exercise out brief was received by senior Army, Navy and Air Force engineers who provided superb joint perspective to the exercise participants.
This type of cross-service integration is lauded by Air Force Reserve Civil Engineer leadership and is expected to be implemented in S-Team training Air Force wide. Additionally, the training was singled out as a superb joint engineer event to the senior DOD engineer, Army Lt. Gen. Tom Bostick.
“This was a great chance to exercise as the joint team,” said Col. John Buck, Seattle district commander and the senior Army engineer to receive the out brief.
It is important to exercise cross-service integration and training to increase synergetic capabilities, said Col. Mark Slominski, 922 CEF commander. He believes that more exercises like this need to be performed, not only with Army counterparts but, with the Navy and across government agencies as well.
“I expect our members to be accountable as ready engineers, supervisors and program managers to perform our duty in support of the military engineer mission, anytime, anywhere.”
Ten ways to help kids conquer military life challenges
We often say that military kids face “unique challenges,” but what does that really mean? Military children grow up fast. They know firsthand what big change feels like, from saying goodbye to friends to learning new languages and customs. They learn terms like “PCS,” “period of adjustment,” and “deployment,” sometimes before they can even spell their last names.
Currently, about 1.88 million military children experience a different set of obstacles than their non-military peers. They don’t have to face the challenges of military life alone. Many great resources, created specifically for military children of all ages, are designed to help teach, inspire, encourage and comfort through the good and the more difficult times.
These 10 tips, adapted from afterdeployment.org, may help you and your child adjust and thrive during military life changes:
1. Encourage connections. It’s easy to feel isolated when you move around a lot. Connecting with others is very important. Military Kids Connect provides a safe, online space for military kids to connect with one another and share experiences. Military families can also get tips on how to stay connected to parents throughout deployment.
2. Help others. Show children how giving your time to others can be both empowering and rewarding. From volunteering at a school event to finding opportunities in your local community, there are many ways your family can get involved.
3. Establish routines. Sticking to a routine can offer children a sense of safety and stability.
4. Take a break, have some fun. Life can be hard. Sometimes we just need a break. Teach your children to make time for fun. If you need help finding something uplifting to do in your area, try using the Positive Activity Jackpot mobile application.
5. Teach your child self-care. It’s important for the family to eat right, exercise and get enough sleep. The Army Medicine Performance Triad has great information for the whole family!
6. Set goals. Teach your children to set reasonable goals and then to move toward them one step at a time. This can help build the resilience to move forward in the face of challenges.
7. Encourage your children to see themselves positively. In addition to celebrating the successes of a good grade in school or other accomplishment, it can be helpful to look back with your child to a time when he or she overcame something difficult. This can develop their sense of strength and self-esteem for the next challenge.
8. Keep things in perspective and stay hopeful. It’s not always easy to stay positive when things are tough, but you can be a great example to your kids. Real Warriors offers six ways to think positively – try implementing them in your own life as an example to your kids.
9. Look for opportunities for self-discovery. FOCUS on the Go mobile application helps kids learn coping skills, identify feelings, share their stories and play games. Military Families Near and Far teaches children of all ages to understand their feelings and how to express them.
10. Accept that change is part of living. Change can be scary at all ages, but it is a constant in life. Talking about change can help military kids learn to accept and understand what is going on.
Want more useful parenting skills and tips? Parenting for Service Members and Veterans is a free online course available to all service members and veterans. The DCoE Outreach Center is also always on standby to answer your questions and direct you to resources: call 866-966-1020, email resources@DCoEoutreach.org or live chat at realwarriors.net/livechat.