AFCENT stands up 1st ECEG for theater engineer command

Published March 27, 2012
By Tech. Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio
U.S. Air Forces Central

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- U.S. Air Forces Central redesignated the 1st Expeditionary Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer Group to the 1st Expeditionary Civil Engineer Group in a ceremony here March 26.

The new group is comprised of the 777th Expeditionary Prime Base Emergency Engineer Force, 577th Expeditionary Prime BEEF and 557th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadrons.

With the completion of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, AFCENT had an opportunity to reorganize Air Force civil engineer units in the area of operations, officials said.

"There is a need for a theater engineer command that is capable of supporting emergent repair, construction, and theater security cooperation," said Col. John Allen, the new 1st ECEG commander, who took over the command from Col. Darren Daniels during the event. "Given the heavy operations tempo of the last ten years, we haven't had the opportunity to establish such a command. Now we do.

"This new engineer command will allow us to continue to provide vital expeditionary engineer capability for the AFCENT commander, as well as provide support of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan from over the horizon, in an effective and efficient manner," he said.

The 1st ECEG provides troop construction and repair and engineering technical services within the U.S. Central Command theater of operations in order to establish and sustain combat platforms for AFCENT and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan.

"For those Airmen who have previously served in an Expeditionary Prime BEEF or RED HORSE Squadron, this new organization won't feel any different," Allen said. "The mission sets for these squadrons is not new. We will continue to provide the installation engineering core competencies for which we have become so well regarded."

The 777th EPBS will provide professional engineering services like master planning, project programming, design, contract development and oversight and surveying. The 577th EPBS will conduct light troop labor construction and repair, to include smaller-scale expeditionary projects. The 557th ERHS will conduct heavy vertical and horizontal construction.

"As we have long understood and long-ago perfected, our ability to project engineers down range effectively from over the horizon, yields efficiencies that allow us to create significant engineering effects with a relatively few number of Airmen," said Allen.

The colonel said although the Airmen of the command will be charged with significant responsibility and will face unique challenges, he knows they will continue to step up and deliver mission success.

"Our craftsmen will build and repair, our engineer assistants will survey and inspect, our logisticians and controllers will feed the fight and our officers and senior non-commissioned officers will lead," he said. "We will rely on their ingenuity, tenacity and perseverance to deliver mission success; all traits for which Airmen are so well known."

The 1st ECEG will be headquartered in Southwest Asia, while maintaining forward operating "hubs" in Afghanistan. These hubs will serve as the embarkation points for 1st ECEG Airmen moving deeper into the battle space to perform missions.

"The legacy built by the tens of thousands of Airmen-engineers who have deployed to Southwest Asia over the last two decades is superb and firmly intact," the colonel concluded. "As Airmen come into theater, they should remember they're here to continue to sustain and grow the legacy of those that came before them, to continue to make things better. I have no doubt that is exactly what they will do."