SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron pavements and equipment shop conducted a crater filling exercise here, April 21.
The 386th ECES pavements and repair shop, known as the Dirt Boys, react quickly to these craters and ensure the runways are ready to be used as soon as possible.
“The team performed well,” said Master Sgt. Byron Icenogle, 386th ECES pavements and equipment shop NCOIC from Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. “For the majority of us, this was the first time we implemented this process and we improved our time with each crater.”
The Dirt Boys are split in to seven teams that take on seven different portions of the repair. Each team has a critical role and can’t hand off the current crater and move on to the next one until their job is done.
From start to finish all of this has to be done in a matter of hours.
It ranges based on how big and how many craters the team has, but start to finish they should be done fairly quickly, continued Icenogle.
The seven teams are comprised of a minimum of 93 people, a small team, but can go up to a very large team, consisting of more than 300.
“In the moment it is like orchestrated chaos out there,” said Icenogle. “There are so many moving pieces at one time that you just have to be aware.”
One of the jobs during this process is operating the volumetric mixer, which is used to fill the craters with concrete-like material.
“This was the first time I ran the mixer,” said Senior Airman Cory Reynolds, 386th ECES heavy equipment operator from the Missouri Air National Guard. “After running it step by step and figuring it out, it is very effective for the job.”
For the exercise the Dirt Boys filled two craters, one where they took their time and the second they treated as if it was a real world situation.
“This exercise was important because we need to have everyone aware, not just civil engineers or Dirt Boys,” said Reynolds. “Everyone needs to know the best and most effective way to repair the airfield and get aircraft in the air.”