148th Fighter Wing Civil Engineering Squadron makes its mark in Alaska

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott G. Herrington
  • 148th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DULUTH, Minn. --  The 148th Fighter Wing deployed 48 members the Civil Engineering and Services Squadrons to Fort Greely, Delta Junction, Alaska July 23, 2011 for two weeks to construct training structures in the Donnelly Training Range.

The civil engineers had two objectives while they were deployed: They had to demolish and reconstruct a live-fire facility, as well as construct a simulated Middle Eastern village from 54 Container Express (CONEX) shipping containers complete with authentic paint schemes. According to Master Sgt. Marple, these objectives were met through 10 hour work days and strong work ethic.

"You couldn't keep our guys down--not even on the one day it rained," said Master Sgt. Ryan Marple, 148th Fighter Wing Civil Engineering Squadron. "After lunch that day, our guys ran right back out there to get back to work."

Master Sgt. Marple said that Fort Greely is "the Camp Ripley of Alaska." Just like Camp Ripley, Minn., Fort Greely, Alaska is a training facility that spans a large area (7,200 acres), and is also used by Army personnel and Air Force security forces alike.

Master Sgt. Marple describes the newly constructed building and village as reasons for military units to utilize Fort Greeley. The live-fire facility allows for many different types of guns to be fired within it--and the mock village was built with room-clearing and urban tactics in mind, said Master Sgt. Marple.

The members of the Civil Engineering Squadron put a combined 3,000 hours of labor into the two construction projects, sprayed more than 500 gallons of paint on the finished buildings, and used more than 20,000 linear feet of boards over the course of the two week deployment.

When asked if the deployment was a success, Master Sgt. Marple replied, "We exceeded their (the Army's) expectations and our own."