Combat civilians: Writing history as it happens

Published May 7, 2008
By Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- People think of 'history' as those events that happened many of years ago. The Revolutionary and Civil Wars and the Vietnam Conflict are all military conflicts documented in American history, in part by historians who were miles and years away from the action.

Thanks to combat civilians like Doug Beckstead and Kevin Rieders, who are base historians assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Wing Historian's Office, history is being written every day as it happens by first-hand witnesses.

Mr. Beckstead and Mr. Rieders deployed from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, and Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, respectively, to fill positions at Balad where Department of Defense civilians make up less than one percent of the population assigned to the wing.

"My job involves recording the accomplishments and the activities of the wing," Mr. Beckstead said. "I typically download between six and eight thousand electronic records a month and I create a daily chronology of significant events that happened."

The historian career field, which used to be manned by active-duty enlisted Airmen, is now primarily manned by DOD civilians.

"When I was called and offered this [position at Elmendorf job, they asked 'You do know this job is deployable?,'" Mr. Beckstead said. "Personally I was excited about it. I thought it would be a great opportunity to come to a place like this and write the history of what's going and what we're doing, literally as it's going on."

"I'm prior service, so I didn't see it as a major sacrifice," said Mr. Rieders who served as an enlisted cavalry scout and later an armor officer in the Army. "I saw it as additional opportunity to serve."

The deployment process for the two historians was the same process active-duty Airmen go through and included multiple immunizations, weapons training and combat skills training, the pair said.

"I was the oldest member in my class in combat skills training, but I didn't finish last in anything." Mr. Beckstead said with a chuckle. "At one point I realized I was old enough for everyone in the class to be my kid."

In deployed locations DOD civilians integrate with their military counterparts to make up the total force package; the lines of separation are blurred to the point where one might not be able to tell the difference between the two on first glance.

"Really there's no difference [between military and civilians here]. We're eating together, working together and living together. We're all in it together," Mr. Beckstead said. "I really try to break down that barrier of 'I'm a civilian and you're enlisted.' I like the fact we're wearing the same uniform. I just try to blend in as much as I can. We're all in the same fight together and we all have the same goal."

"It's not a standard expectation that civilian personnel are going to deploy as part of the total force, and that's something new that the Air Force is adapting to and adjusting to," Mr. Rieders said.

"I think it gives the civilian work force a better understanding of what the military does and what military personnel have to go through as far as the separation from family and all those hardships and sacrifices they make. I think it gives military personnel a greater appreciation of DOD civilians, we are really part of the same team, part of the 'one team one fight concept.'"

This deployment is the first both historians have served as DOD civilians. It holds additional meaning for the two as they document the history of the 332 AEW, which was originally designated as the 332nd Fighter Group, led by the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II.

To be part of the Tuskegee Airmen [legacy] as a historian is one of the highlights of my life," Mr. Beckstead said. "It's very exciting to be that much a part of something.

"I couldn't imagine being deployed anywhere else. Yes, there's a danger level, but you're in the middle of everything [here]. I'm not an outside observer, I'm inside and it's a whole different thing when you can write history as you live history," Mr. Beckstead said.

"As a historian, one of the really neat things is knowing when all the histories are declassified, that someone is going to be really interested in reading them, which isn't always the case when you're writing about wing or a numbered Air Force in the continental United States," Mr. Rieders said.

Though their four-month deployments to Balad are winding down, both agreed they would come back to the home of the Tuskegee Airmen if the opportunity presented itself again.

"Being at Balad has meant being a part of an organization that has a real understanding and day-to-day appreciation of the importance of the mission and the obligation we have as members of the United States Air Force," Mr. Rieders said. "I know that's generally true everywhere in the Air Force, but I think it's especially true here.

"It's a privilege and an honor to serve with everyone who's here carrying on the Global War on Terrorism and working toward the freedom of the people of Iraq," Mr. Rieders said.