434th CES troop's old-school experience provides essential front-line support, garners AF Award Published Aug. 2, 2012 By Maj. Kelly Howard 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- It's fitting that a Grissom senior noncommissioned officer would be recognized with an award named in honor of the first-ever chief of enlisted matters in the Office of the Air Force Civil Engineer since the work he was doing was also ground breaking. Senior Master Sergeant Kevin Johnson, a 434th Civil Engineer Squadron engineering assistant, was named the AFRC Chief Master Sergeant Larry R. Daniels 2011 recipient for superior job performance by a military superintendent for actions taken during his six month deployment to Afghanistan. Two months into the deployment, Johnson said he was separated from the other Grissom CE members and embedded with the Army in the northern region of the country, where he was the only reservist. He was sent to provide senior leadership to other Air Force CE assets already in place who were lacking modern survey equipment and were falling behind on mission requirements. "I needed a strong leader who could think on his feet and deal with difficult situations," said Chief Master Sergeant Michael Bowden, 434th Civil Engineer Squadron chief enlisted manager and team leader for the deployment. "The area we were sending him into was extremely hostile and desperate for engineering support, and Senior Master Sergeant Johnson not only had the technical skill set but the leadership and determination to ensure mission success." Johnson would rely heavily on that skill set and his leadership ability to meld his team into a cohesive and effective unit. "Taking 14 engineers, most of them green, and bringing the group together to accomplish the mission with only maybe one of them having any experience working without equipment was a challenge," he said. "We had to use old school methods. "I was teaching them how to layout and grade a field using half full water bottles," Johnson continued. "I was relentless on teaching them some of these things because we had to get things done - with or without equipment." Johnson not only accomplished the mission, he excelled, often completing projects ahead of schedule and supervising more than 400 projects valued at $300 million that improved the quality of life at 10 bases during his deployment. Projects Johnson worked on ranged from tent assembly to fuel farm bunker planning to designing a fire station to entire base layout and design. When a 125-acre-plus expansion at a forward operating base was called for, Johnson was responsible for the survey and layout. The results enabled more than 15 helicopters to bed down and brought in the region's first combat aviation under the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade. "We were laying out the base, runway and defensive perimeter," the multi-service veteran said. "We were using a Vietnam-era runway patching technique to build the runway for the helos and went into 24-hour operations when work got behind. "It didn't matter what rank you were - you were out there building that runway," elaborated Johnson. "We were pulling double duty - designing/laying it out and then actually putting the materials down with everyone else." In the end, 80,000 square feet of runway and helipad was completed ahead of schedule. Johnson also succeeded in acquisitioning $200,000 worth of survey equipment, which allowed projects to move forward quite a bit faster, he said. Johnson's resourcefulness and skills also allowed him to precisely locate primary water wells that eliminated the need for host nation support, and he also devised the optimal bare-base layout that equated to $60,000 in force protection improvements and mitigated threats. "To say that his mission was a success is an understatement," Bowden said. "He far exceeded the expectations of the combatant commander, and on multiple occasions I received feedback (from the combatant commander) praising his efforts and asking if I could send more Grissom engineers to their location. A very good impression he left indeed!" Johnson enlisted in the regular Air Force in 1989, the same year Daniels began his tenure as the chief of enlisted matters. While his time in both the Air National Guard and the Army National Guard before being stationed at Grissom in 2001 might have prepared him for some of the other duties as assigned, during this deployment, Johnson attributes part of his success to his reservist lifestyle and having a civilian job that brings with it outside experience. "I work for a civilian engineering firm as well," Johnson said. "This was a time when my civilian and military life meshed and served me very well." The 434th CES is part of the 434th Air Refueling Wing, the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter. Also, connect directly with the 434th CES on Facebook.
