News>Feature - When Jack Frost comes knocking, CE knocks back
Photos
(From left) Airman 1st Class Steven Leary and Tech. Sgt. Christopher Messmer strain on a cheater bar slid over a pipe wrench to loosen rusted bolts on a front-end loader's bucket Dec. 16, 2010, at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The front-end loader is equipped with sacrificial skid plates on the bucket, which take the abuse of grinding on the ground instead of the more expensive bucket. Airman Leary and Sergeant Messmer are 35th Civil Engineer Squadron pavements and equipment construction technicians (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Phillip Butterfield)
Airman 1st Class Steven Leary inspects shear bolts on a snow blower prior to operation Dec. 16, 2010 at Misawa Air Base, Japan. Shear bolts are designed to break in the event hidden debris in the snow clogs the auger wheel and prevents it from spinning. Airman Leary is a 35th Civil Engineer Squadron pavements and equipment construction technician. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Phillip Butterfield/Released)
Tech. Sgt. Christopher Messmer updates the vehicle status board to assist other maintenance technicians Dec. 16, 2010, at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The vehicle status board shows maintenance requirements and vehicle locations. Sergeant Messmer is a 35th Civil Engineer Squadron pavements and equipment construction technician (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Phillip Butterfield)
by Tech. Sgt. Phillip Butterfield
35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
12/21/2010 - MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNS) -- Come sleet, snow and ice, or whatever the environment can throw at the northernmost U.S. air base in Japan, a crew of civil engineer jacks-of-all-trades are ready to keep the mission moving.
Airmen from the 35th Civil Engineer Squadron band together with Airmen of the pavements and heavy-equipment shop to remove snow from roads and the flightline, to ensure Misawa Air Base's goes unhindered.
"If we weren't here to remove the snow, the planes wouldn't be able to fly," said Staff Sgt. Adrian Wilson, a 35th CES pavements and heavy equipment operator. "The base would probably also be closed because no one would be able to get to work."
The PHE Shop monitors and clears 76 square miles of roads and taxiways using 119 different pieces of equipment ranging from large rollover plows to small Bobcat tractors.
Last year, the shop hauled 7,000 truckloads, totaling 70,000 tons of snow during the season.
"This year we're expecting 125 to 240 inches of snow," Sergeant Wilson said. "We would have been hard pressed to clear last year's snow, or this year's expected amounts, without the help of our fellow augmentors."
PHE engineers call upon the other shops in CES, such as heating/ventilation and air conditioning and structures for extra help during the season.
"Being able to help the snow removal crew is a great opportunity," said Airman Ronald Volner, a 35th CES structural apprentice. "It lets me get out of the shop and learn a different skill set. Working with P&HE allows me to drive different vehicles and use different tools that I don't normally get to use or see in the structures shop."
Some of the equipment used for snow removal is complicated to use, but the PHE Airmen train the augmentors, Airman Volner added.
"I'm very proud of the Airmen I have working for me," Sergeant Wilson said. "CES has some of the best Airmen. Our augmentors are fast learners, and I can count on anyone of them to get the job done."
