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A Rock Solid Warrior: Tech. Sgt. Justus Upperman

  • Published
  • By Public Affairs staff
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  This week's Rock Solid Warrior is Tech. Sgt. Justus Upperman. Upperman is an engineer assistant and construction inspector with the 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron. The Shrewsbury Mo. native is deployed from the 131st Civil Engineer Squadron, Missouri Air National Guard.

In his own words:

Q: What is your family's military heritage?
A: I have family members who are serving in the Army, Air Force and Navy.

Q: What is your mission here?
A: My mission here is to inspect construction sites', making sure the Air Force and Government are getting the work and quality they are paying for. Making sure the contractors are following the Statement of Work given to them by Contracting and Engineers and not trying to do shortcuts or improper methods of construction.

Q: What are some of the best parts of your mission?
A: Working with the locals and getting to know their culture. Working with the guys in my office and seeing the sites of the host nation.

Q: What are some of the challenges you face while conducting your mission, and how do you overcome them?
A: The major challenge is the language barrier between me and the contractors. I try to stay away from phone conversations with the contractors as much as possible because that make it much harder to understand them. I try to have face to face conversations as much as possible. Just getting to know someone and learning there hand and facial expressions can help with the conversation.

Q: How does your job differ in a deployed environment vs. home base?
A: At home base I am the fulltime UDM (Unit Deployment Manager) and UTM (Unit Training Manager) so I am for the most part behind a computer all day and only deal with Military members. Here I am out in the field with contractors for the most part and deal with civilians' more than military members.

Q: How many times have you deployed?
A: I have deployed twice. My first deployment was in 2008, 2009 in Afghanistan for 7 months as a Project Manager. This is my second deployment and is also a 7 month deployment, Nov 2013 to June 2014.


Q: What makes this deployment unique?
A: This is unique because we are able to see the host nation. It is also my first deployment to a base made up of mostly Air Force personnel. My last deployment was on an Army commanded base and there was only about 10 -15 Air Force members on the base. Things are run more to my liking on an Air Force installation.

Q: Why did you join the Air Force?
A: I originally joined for the education benefits, but liked it so much I stayed in. It is now a fulltime job for me and I do it for the adventure and pride of our Country.

(The Rock Solid Warrior is a weekly spotlight focused on an outstanding member of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing. These unsung heroes have been nominated by their unit leadership to be recognized for their efforts while deployed.)