ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- In 1941, Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold said, “Air bases are a determining factor in the success of air operations. The two-legged stool of men and planes would topple over without this equally important third leg.”
Through the years his insight has not changed. Despite the changing global environment, the core mission of Air Force Civil Engineers has remained constant: to build, operate, sustain, modernize and recover enduring and expeditionary installations for the Air Force.
The 2018 National Defense Strategy set forth the following goals: build a more lethal force, strengthen alliances and attract new partners, and reform for greater performance and affordability. Arnold Engineering Development Complex is a major contributor to the NDS, and Civil Engineer (CE) Squadrons located at Arnold Air Force Base and at geographically separated units are “leading the way,” bringing “squadron level power” to the fight to ensure the “third leg” of the stool stands ready to enable the AEDC mission – “To prove the superiority of systems required to meet the demands of the National Defense Strategy”.
At the heart of the Arnold AFB Civil Engineer Branch (AEDC/TSDC) is its people. A high performing team of government civil servants and contractor personnel from the Test Operations and Sustainment, Facility Support Services, Performance Based Remediation and AbilityOne contracts work side-by-side to execute the Civil Engineer mission. The programs executed by these personnel are laser-focused on one of the three priorities listed in the recently published “AEDC Strategy 2020” – To Improve and Sustain the Complex.
Whether at home or at work, there is one service that is taken for granted by most people: utilities.
Every building, test capability, and even utilities themselves across Arnold AFB and the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation enterprise will not operate if electrical power is interrupted. Couple that with the extreme demands from test capabilities for cooling water, steam, gaseous nitrogen, natural gas and jet fuel, and it’s easy to understand why the mission of Civil Engineers is the foundation that supports every aspect of our mission.
At the center of the action is the CE Operations Flight. On duty 24/7/365, utility teams maintain a balance of operations and maintenance activities. Using a direct “hot line” to the Tennessee Valley Authority, crews order electrical power while locally coordinating cooling water demands with test crews to ensure the test periods are successful.
Equally important as providing “real time” utility services are the Facility Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization programs required to keep the systems in operation today and well into the future.
Aging building and utility systems across the Complex increases risk to the test mission. The challenge to reduce that risk has been faced head-on by our systems engineers and craftsman. A key component of their success is the implementation of a robust asset management program. The output of this program is the information needed to make mission focused data driven decisions to reduce overall life cycle costs and to reduce risk to test programs.
The CE Engineering Flight is a lean cradle-to-grave project development and execution organization and is the hub for contractor-executed projects that range in value from a few thousand dollars to tens of millions of dollars. They execute projects that sustain and improve utility and facility systems to keep them in a high state of readiness.
It’s almost impossible to visit an area of the base that doesn’t have a major on-going construction project being managed by Civil Engineers.
Major upgrades to the Base CE Building, Visitor Control Center, Fire Department, Base Defense Operations Center and potable water plant are underway. Facility renovations are an important aspect of taking care of people so they can focus on executing the mission. This group has also been a critical part of the Service Life Extension Program executing several multi-million dollar projects to replace aging electrical switchgear and unit sub stations at several test facilities ensuring more robust and reliable test operations.
Not all mission enabling tasks in CE get the visibility they deserve, and the work performed by the Installation Management (ISM) and Emergency Management (EM) Flights are a perfect example.
The ISM is diverse group of engineers, biologists, real property and housing management specialists who work diligently every day to take care of our people and to keep Arnold AFB compliant with Air Force Instructions as well as Federal and State law. The only time we really hear about their efforts is when something goes wrong…and that almost never happens.
The EM flight is a small but mighty group of specialists who are trained to handle response and recovery operations after natural-disasters or manmade crises strike. They are also charged with evaluating the Fire and Emergency Services contract operation ensuring their services are there when needed.
Throughout the history of AEDC, and despite ever changing global environments, Civil Engineers and their mission have endured the test of time. Today’s focus to improve and sustain the complex will ensure success today and tomorrow and CE will be there “Leading the Way.”