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It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it: Custodial Worker Escort Team

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Stacy Fowler
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Editor's note: The men and women of the 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Force Protection Flight have types of jobs that are smelly, sweaty, gross and occasionally tedious. This is the third of a three-part series highlighting their mission here.

Airmen on the Clorox Team, officially known as the 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Force Protection Flight's Custodial Worker Escort Team might not have a super-exciting job, but they get to know everyone on base.

They are different than Airmen who go the same building every day, usually to the same office with the same people doing the same job, said Staff Sgt. Marcus Slade, CWE Team NCO in charge. CWE Airmen are able to get a glimpse of every aspect of the mission in the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing.

"One of the biggest advantages of this job is that we get to see the work and character of all the other squadrons here," said Slade, a Little Rock, Ark., native deployed from 673rd Logistics Readiness Squadron from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. "We clean almost every building on base."

And because of the goings-on in some buildings, CWE Airmen's main job is to make sure the contracted cleaners aren't trying to gather intel to use against base and its personnel - even though the CWE teams may look like they are "just standing around."

"We watch [the cleaners] to make sure they aren't trying to pick up any paperwork or trying to look at things they're not allowed to," said Airman 1st Class Drew Thatcher, CWE Team Airman. "You wouldn't want someone picking up important papers off a commander's desk and taking off with them, would you?

"Since we're not allowed to help the workers clean, it looks like we're just standing around in the hallways and the offices," said Thatcher, a native of Seattle, Wash., deployed from the 673rd Civil Engineering Squadron from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. "But we're actually making sure that OPSEC is taken care of."

One big benefit of the CWE Team, said Slade, is it helps ensure Airmen here can focus even more on the mission, instead of mopping floors, taking out trash and sweeping the never-ending flow of dirt in the corridors.

"In my opinion, Clorox not only provides clean working and living environments, but it saves Airmen time," said Slade. "Instead of having to clean their own areas, they can focus on the mission."