100th CES Heavy Horizontal: 'Pianists' playing in dirt, digging holes

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Although every job on RAF Mildenhall contributes to the mission, it all starts and ends with the "Dirt Boyz," declared Staff Sgt. Jack DeMato, 100th Civil Engineer Squadron Heavy Horizontal pavements and construction equipment craftsman.

"People can't get to work in the wintertime unless we plow the snow to get them through the front gate; planes can't land or take off unless they have a (clear) runway to do that," DeMato said. "We maintain the runway, whether it be sweeping up (foreign object damage) or removing the snow; planes can't fly without us.

Dirt Boyz revealed

"Basically speaking, we dig holes and play in the dirt all day long," said DeMato, from Montana City, Mont. "A lot of our equipment is heavy construction equipment - we're not swinging hammers or running saws; we use bulldozers, tractor-trailers and other large pieces of equipment."

Whatever weather England throws at the Dirt Boyz, they are prepared. They have snow plows for snow removal from the flightline, taxiway and base roads, along with deicer trucks - to deice the pavement on the runway - and salt trucks. In the summertime, they are kept busy maintaining and inspecting all sub-surface draining systems on base; street drains, soakaway drains - any construction work which is flat, such as sidewalks, streets, concrete or asphalt, is taken care of by them. That's in addition to maintaining all the fencing around base.

DeMato has been in the Air Force for seven years, and "Dirt Boy" the entire time.

He worked construction before joining the Air Force and wanted to continue that as a service member.

"I always liked playing with Tonka toys as a kid, and this is just like playing with big, life-sized Tonka toys now! That's probably another reason why we're called 'dirt boyz,'" DeMato said. "If you talk to just about any one of us, we'll probably come up with the same answer - we like playing with big toys and playing in the dirt!"

In the pavements and construction equipment flight, every day is different and they enjoy the flexibility to problem-solve.

"One day we might do some concrete work, the next day we might have a fence job; within each job, every one is different," DeMato said. "In some other career fields, if there's a problem with an aircraft, the maintainer is given a (technical order) showing exactly how to fix it. Within our career field, we know we gotta build a sidewalk, but each sidewalk is different, so you've always got to be able to tackle it a different way.

"For me, the variation and the challenge of different problems (is what I like best about this job)," he said. "I really enjoy doing concrete work - it's hard work and physically demanding, but when I go out there and make something out of concrete I know it's going to be there for years and years. It's a sense of satisfaction, knowing that something I built and created is going to be used by people well after I'm gone."

DeMato manages the people running the equipment, and typically each day sees three crews going out, taking care of workorders from 100th CES, whether it be fixing bricks in sidewalks or installing a new emergency entrance in a contractor compound.

"There's really no telling what a typical day will bring, but you can always count on the sub-surface drainage inspections as there's (more than) 27,000 drains on base. We usually have a street sweeper daily, keeping dust particles out of the air; it might seem insignificant, but it's all to do with keeping the ground contaminants out of the drains," the pavements and construction equipment craftsman said. "If it gets into the drains it could get into the water table and drinking water."

When new guys come into the shop, they are usually put on the screed board, used to make concrete bases.

"You always put the new guys on the screed board because it makes them appreciate being able to be a 'finisher,'" DeMato said. "It's the most physically demanding and you're on your knees in awkward positions. Once you get into the finishing aspect, it really comes down to finesse - that's one of the reasons why I like concrete so much. If you don't put your best into it, you're not gonna get a good result.

"You've gotta work the concrete - it's like an artist working his paint. We're working our concrete to make it that final product that really shows," he said proudly. "Most people may not notice it, but other Dirt Boyz will notice if you made a mistake."

Out of all the "life-size Tonka toys," he gets to use, one in particular stands out for DeMato.

"My favorite piece of equipment is the grader," he said. "It's like a piano - there are so many different things that could be going on; as you're moving forward, you're operating three different levers and each one is moving a different part on the machine. Everything that you're doing out there - especially on the equipment - is all off 'feel'. You don't actually see what you're doing; you're just operating by the seat of your pants! You'd think it's all visual, but that's not the case.

"Grader operators can really make or break your job," DeMato said. "If (an asphalt job) doesn't turn out well, it all comes down to the grader operator - a stellar grader operator can take a 'bad apple' and turn it into something amazing. Everyone has their different strengths on equipment, and the grader is mine."

Chief Master Sgt. Tracy Jones, 100th Air Refueling Wing command chief, recently had the opportunity to work alongside the Dirt Boyz as part of the "dirty jobs program."

Never afraid to roll up his sleeves and join in with his Airmen, they put the chief to work cleaning out and patching street drains, mixing cement and cleaning out the street sweeper.

"Their job appealed to me because they are our unsung heroes; behind the scenes, taking care of business on a daily basis," Jones said. "Their outstanding efforts usually go unnoticed because they do their job so well - they're not normally thought of until the base is in crisis."

As the command chief soon found out, the Dirt Boyz job is neverending; there is always something to do.

"The 100th ARW mission doesn't get done without the Dirt Boyz - if the runway is covered with snow, planes can't land or take off. If the street drains are all clogged, the base floods, then our roads aren't driveable and facilities are ruined," the command chief said. "They also keep our base looking nice with the street sweeper - without them, we'd have details of Airmen sweeping the curbs and parking lots."

It was the positive attitude of the Dirt Boyz Airmen, along with their commitment to accomplishing the job with excellence, which appealed to Jones most.

"But mostly, they are just great people to be around," Jones said