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Civil Engineers train to fight

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Anthony Munoz
  • 90th Missile Wing Public Affairs

“As soon as we popped the door open, the first Airman started firing, the second Airman went past the one who was firing, and the whole thing was a mess,” said Airman 1st Class Steven Pfister, a Water and Fuels System Maintenance Apprentice assigned to 90 Civil Engineer Squadron. “The guy who was running the simulation called ‘cut’ immediately.”

Pfister looks forward to Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force Day since the tactical training evokes intense focus and a lot of adrenaline, he said. 

“You’re doing semi-dangerous stuff, so you don’t want to lose your focus and hurt yourself or someone else,” Pfister said.

Prime BEEF Day is a monthly training exercise held within 90 CES to ensure Airmen are ready to face adversarial threats while on deployment.

The Prime BEEF Day on Sept. 3, 2020, is unique since opposing forces will be incorporated into the training exercise, said Tech. Sgt. Allen Adams, Prime BEEF manager with 90 CES.

Airmen will be hit with injects such as unexploded ordinance (UXO), small arms fire, and simulated improvised explosive device attacks while trying to complete the mission.

“We’re going to have smoke, we’re going to have M4s out there, blast simulators, speakers and we’re going to have a good group of volunteers,” said Adams. 

Training with these resources will enable Airmen to become more mission ready during deployments or on station.

“This definitely helps our Airmen in the sense of being multi-capable Airmen,” said Adams. “Being able to not just be engineers, but also gunners on a convoy. We can call in 9-line med evacs. We can call in SALUTE reports. We can spot UXOs. That makes us more ready to fight, more multi-capable Airmen, more mission essential.”

Adams is confident in the capabilities of his Airmen at 90th CES on base and in deployed environments.

“They excel through teamwork, and they excel through communication,” said Adams. “They also excel through application and performance. I would say my Airmen are ready to go at any time.”

Proper instruction is essential to ensure Airmen can excel at their jobs.

“There’s a lot of responsibility on me to provide good training,” said Adams. “That follows through with instructors. I need instructors who care and who are passionate about what they’re teaching.”

If the instructor team was not passionate and did not care about the mission, the Airmen would not care about the mission either. 

“If you have that instructor who’s passionate, you’ll find interest in what they’re talking about,” said Adams. “That’s the type of interest that I like to spark within my students.”

The instructor team does an outstanding job ensuring their students receive the proper training, Pfister said.

“The Prime BEEF instructors are always on top of their stuff,” said Pfister. “They’re always making sure people are involved, especially Sergeant Adams,” said Pfister. “He kills it every Prime BEEF day.”
Airmen within 90 CES are well prepared to continue the Air Force mission due to the diversity of their
training and dedication of their instructors.