WENDOVER, Utah -- On Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, over three dozen Airmen with the 419th Civil Engineer Squadron packed up their gear and traveled to the Wendover Compound at the Historic Wendover Airfield.
For the next four days the squadron worked on several projects under austere conditions, allowing them to demonstrate their readiness for any situations arising from great power competition.
“The training out here this weekend,” said Airman 1st Class Amanda Wilson, 419th Civil Engineer Squadron engineer apprentice, “has been great because it’s real-world application.”
Wilson was specifically tasked with leading some of the land navigation trainings which included hiking out into the desert during the day and using night vision technology at night.
“We’re having everyone in the squadron triangulate their location using just a map and a compass,” explained Wilson, “We like to be able to train how we would be deployed. Very bare bones, just using a compass and maps.”
Aside from the new land navigation course, the Airmen also repaired leaky roofs on aging buildings, built an obstacle course, and volunteered with the Civil Air Patrol to begin the restoration of a World War II era dining facility to its original state.
“We’ve got guys that are plumbers on the roof, and we’ve got guys that are electricians tearing out the ceiling and everything in between,” said Major Aaron Burch, 419th Civil Engineer Squadron operations flight director, “we may not have a whole CE squadron there with us [on a deployment]. We may have a smaller team, you know, 10 or 20 folks. So, people need to be able to do more than just their own job and be able to really contribute to the effort.”
The training culminated not only in the gaining of new engineering and navigation skills, but also in the strengthening of relationships across the squadron.
“We’re all working on the same projects here this weekend, so it’s been a great bonding experience” stated Wilson. “Camping outside in the frigid cold. It’s been great!”
The 419th FW is home to nearly 1,300 reservists who work one weekend a month and two weeks a year and must maintain the same level of efficiency as their active-duty counterparts.