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It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it: Garbage Disposal Escort

  • 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 boring. This is the first of a four-part series highlighting their mission here.

Affectionately called "Oscar Team," the Airmen in the 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Force Protection Flight's Garbage Disposal Escort Team have a job that takes them into the smelliest, slimiest places this undisclosed location in Southwest Asia has to offer.

Their job: to go into garbage dumpsters around base, looking for things that can pose safety and security risks for U.S. and host nation personnel.

"If you think that if you put something into the garbage with something slimy and gross we won't look at it, you're wrong," said Staff Sgt. Jeff Kisamore, GDE Team assistant NCO in charge. "We jump right into the dumpsters, tear open every bag and search everything to make sure there isn't something that the bad guys can use against us. Unfortunately, we find stuff every time; we have never had an empty sweep."

These sweeps have netted flight manifests, complete personnel rosters, deployment orders, uniform items from all branches of the military, dog tags and even live rounds and classified documents.

"I have been doing this for about two and a half months, and nothing surprises me anymore," said Kisamore, a Pelham, Ala., native deployed from the 18th Dental Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan. "People throw away some weird stuff, and it's not all military related. But we focus on what the enemy can use against us."

One of the benefits of deploying as an FP Airman is the mix of more than 50 Air Force Specialty Codes. This can help someone in CE, for example, know if medical form is sensitive because a medical Airman can look and give it a "good to go" or "need to shred," said Kisamore.

GDE Airmen actually go into the dumpsters twice, sometimes three times a day: first thing before the contracted trash collection, during the trash collection and occasionally after trash collection. And neither the job nor the smell gets any easier as the day goes on, said Airman 1st Class Adam Cassada, a GDE Airman.

"The smell isn't too bad in the morning, but it really starts to stink once the heat kicks in after 10 a.m.," said Cassada, a Charlotte, N.C., native deployed from the 354th Operation Support Squadron, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. "You have all kinds of 'mystery liquids' leaking from bags and bottles all the time, and you have to handle all that to look for stuff. I am surprised daily at what we find; some of the things I have found are items that have no business in the trash and should have been shredded."

Many times it's not the smell that causes Kisamore to grimace after jumping in the dumpster. One of the most frustrating parts of the job is that people don't seem to know or care about what they throw away, said Kisamore.

"I try not to judge, but I don't know if people are lazy or just don't care about what goes into the trash," said Kisamore. "We get notifications all the time about OPSEC and 100 percent shred policies, but we still keep finding things that could really cause us harm. What is it going to take for people to learn?"

The 386th Air Expeditionary Wing has a 100-percent shred policy on base. If you throw it away, it will be found - hopefully by one of the GDE team Airmen.

Stand by for the next edition of the FP story: Airmen put their sense of smell on the line with the Septic Waste Removal Escort Team.