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Pope NCO supports Operation New Dawn civil engineer ops at Iraq base

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Staff Sgt. Teddy Wagoner is an engineering journeyman, or engineering assistant, deployed with the 732nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Base Engineer Emergency Force, also known as "Prime BEEF," at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq. As part of his job there, he works with the Facility Engineer Team.

Sergeant Wagoner is deployed from the 43rd Civil Engineer Squadron, 43rd Airlift Wing, at Pope Air Force Base, N.C. The 43rd Airlift Wing is part of the 18th Air Force and Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., and is comprised of 3,000 personnel from 15 squadrons, providing tactical airlift support to the Army's 18th Airborne Corps, 82nd Airborne Division and U.S. Special Forces Command, the wing's fact sheet states.

On any day, Sergeant Wagoner can be directing and performing civil engineering design, drafting, surveying and contract surveillance to support Air Force facility construction and maintenance programs for his deployed base which supports Operation New Dawn. The operation changed from Operation Iraqi Freedom to OND on Sept. 1, 2010.

Sergeant Wagoner also prepares manual and computer-aided design drawings, specifications and cost estimates for projects, his official Air Force job description states. He also develops, operates and maintains Geographic Information System modules and utilizes surveying technology to include the Global Positioning System. Additionally, he evaluates potential construction sites and performs field tests on soils, asphalt and concrete.

In supporting contingency operations, Sergeant Wagoner is trained to develop bed-down plans to house personnel, aircraft and associated support functions, the job description further states. He also is trained to evaluate existing airfield pavements, lighting, navigational aids, markings and arresting systems. He can also perform recovery operations to include explosive ordinance reconnaissance, airfield damage assessment, minimum operating strip selection, rapid runway repair calculations and airfield marking procedures.

Furthermore, when developing engineering designs, Sergeant Wagoner is trained to perform simple load calculations for horizontal and vertical construction and to act as a liaison between design, review, construction and using agencies. In performing drafting duties, he interprets rough engineering sketches to produce working drawings using manual and CAD techniques. He produces architectural, structural, civil, mechanical and electrical drawings and updates base comprehensive plans and maintains record drawings.

Sergeant Wagoner's surveying skills, the job description states, allow him to conduct reconnaissance, site location, construction and mapping surveys while operating manual and electronic surveying equipment. He can also collect, convert and present field survey data for civil engineering projects and maintain equipment to do that job.

Also, as operations continue at Al Asad AB, Sergeant Wagoner will possibly perform contract management duties. The job description shows that effort includes managing and inspecting construction and maintenance contracts and interpreting plans, specifications and other contract documents.