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380AEW Article

Loss of power for 380th AEW provides electrical systems professionals a chance to shine

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jeremy Larlee
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
Southwest Asia --  In this modern age there are many things that Airmen take for granted even in a deployed location.

During the evening of June 22, The 380th Air Expeditionary Wing suffered an electricity outage. The usual sight of multiple laptop screens alight as Airmen surfed the internet and communicated with loved ones back home from the base pavilion, was replaced with total darkness and groups of people holding nervous conversations.

Thankfully the lights were restored in short order thanks to the efforts of Master Sgt. Brent Batten, NCOIC of electrical systems, and other Airmen from the 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron.

The first order of business for Sergeant Batten and his electrical systems crew was to find the cause of the problem.

"The team was very motivated, we just wanted to get out there and figure out what the problem was," said Sergeant Batten." Many of us had just arrived so it was quite a learning experience for us."

After investigating the 380th AEW's high-voltage switching station the electrical Airmen determined that the problem was from an outside source beyond their control. Being new to this Southwest Asian location, they had to scramble to find the right contacts to get the problem fixed.

Sergeant Batten, who grew up in Fredericktown, Ohio, said at that point they had no idea how long the base would be without power so they had to start a contingency plan for a worst-case scenario.

"We had people pitching in and moving generators so that we could power mission critical buildings in case the outage was for a prolonged period," said Sergeant Batten.
As it turned out power was restored at 10 p.m. It was a long day for Sergeant Batten he said he finally was able to call it a day at 1 a.m. on June 23 after reporting to work at 6 a.m. on the previous day.

Airman 1st Class Joseph Torres, a 380th CES electrical systems apprentice, said he arrived here two weeks ago deploying from the 647th Civil Engineer Squadron Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, Hawaii, and that this was an interesting start to his first deployment.

"I knew we had good equipment here and I figured the problem wasn't with us," said Airman Torres. "Taking care of the problems like this in a deployed area was why I signed up for the Air Force."

The Airman, who grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., and the rest of the electrical systems team had no incidents in recent history to expect an outage.

"It was funny I had a good turnover with the master sergeant I replaced and he had no problems of this kind during his tour," said Sergeant Batten. "We have a good source of power and I don't expect this to be a trend. But it goes to show that you have to prepare for everything in a deployed location."