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ROCK SOLID WARRIOR

  • Published
  • 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Staff Sgt. Shaun Michael Bigler

Unit: 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron

Job: Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning technician

Home unit: 110th Fighter Wing, Battle Creek, Mich.

How do you support the mission here? My job supports the mission by maintaining the HVAC systems that provide comfortable living and working conditions in work spaces and dorms, which is a big quality of life issue and directly affects the morale of our force. My job also involves the HVAC on critical facilities that has a direct impact on the wing mission such as the DFAC freezers, EMEDS, CASF, fitness center and HQ and other supporting facilities that are essential for mission operations.

How many times have you deployed and what makes this one unique? This is my first deployment in five years of service, so this is very unique in its own way. I enjoy this deployment and hope for more to come. This deployment is unique in that I get a chance to work with other skilled HVAC technicians from all over the Air Force, and I also get a chance to see different parts of the world. I think the uniqueness really comes from proving to myself what I am able to accomplish and achieve both personally and as a team.

How does your job differ in a deployed environment vs. home base? This mission is different from what I do back home in that the level of awareness and mission focus is more intense. Other major differences here versus back home are the varieties of HVAC systems, the climate in which we do our job and the work capacity that we are responsible for. Every job here is a priority due to the fact if a dorm room has no air conditioning, the personnel inside may not get quality sleep and can potentially perform less than a 100 percent the next day. If a critical facility goes down, it directly affects people and mission because our options are way more limited here because of location and parts accessibility. If we need parts to fix equipment, we can't just go to a whole sale vendor and pick them up like you would back stateside. The most positive difference in my job here versus back home is the job intensity and the teamwork required to complete the mission and maintain morale.