News

100th CES conducts field exercise

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Troops from the 100th Civil Engineer Squadron set up camp on the south side of base April 24 and 25 when 47 Airmen from RAF Mildenhall and 11 from the 48th Civil Engineer Squadron at RAF Lakenheath joined forces for a field training exercise.

The training offered the troops a chance to practice using wartime equipment and procedures that they don't get to use on a day-to-day basis

"CE fulfills varied missions," Senior Airman Neal Clark, 100th CES Readiness and Emergency Management Flight, said. "This training can be used when deployed with the Army, a (U.S. Air Force) CE Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (also known as RED HORSE), or even during a deployment to a main operating base within the area of responsibility."

The training allowed the CE troops to practice bare base layout and wartime combat skills. While many have deployed before, they all got to experience convoy training, troop-leading procedures, weapons handling, air base defense and defensive fighting positions.

During their overnight stay, they also practiced land navigation and compass use, night operations and use of night vision goggles.

"We had good lessons learned from the field training exercise conducted in August, so we were better prepared for this one," Airman Clark said. "Overall, it was a success; we convoyed to the site, built a small camp, trained on all the areas that we set out to, then redeployed back to our starting point on base."