Grissom Airmen put training to work

Published June 2, 2014
By Tech. Sgt. Douglas Hays
434th ARW Public Affairs

GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Members of the 434th Air Refueling Wing put on their work gloves and helped build homes for Native Americans in New Mexico recently.

Two rotations of Grissom civil engineers and medics, travelled to Gallup, New Mexico, to help construct homes for needy families.

While a total of eight different specialties embarked on the two, two-week rotations, the trip afforded a 'blurring of the lines' amongst the skill sets when it came to getting the job done.

"The best part about Gallup is that you get to work in your [Air Force specialty], so you get your training in, but you also get an opportunity work outside of that," said Master Sgt. Josh Moormann, 434th CES associate operations air reserve technician.

"Many spent a week being a carpenter, even though they may be an electrician," Moormann said. "It makes you more rounded. You're not always going to do your job all of the time."

The military and Grissom have been supporting the Gallup effort for years, taking the materials they supply and providing labor to give families homes.

The construction site isn't a typical neighborhood as homes are built inside a warehouse with usually three homes undergoing construction at the same time - each in a different phase.

"We offset them by a week so each is in a different phase allowing different skill sets to be working at the same time," Moormann said.

In the past all the work was done in the warehouse, but a problem developed where the homes were then placed on site and then spent long periods of time awaiting hook up of utilities.

"We sent guys on site to help button up and trouble shoot areas," he said.

Working alongside the engineers were medics from the 434th Aerospace Medicine Squadron.

"We're sometimes 20 miles onto the reservation, so having medical care nearby is a necessity," said Senior Master Sgt. Chris Brill, 434th CES senior operations air reserve technician. "We put them to work swinging hammers too.

"Trips like this really mirror the way CE operates down range," Brill continued. "You can be a placed on a team where you may be a plumber, but you may end up driving a lot of nails and do carpenter work. You do the work needed to get the mission done."
"It's important to know your job, and what it takes to get the mission done - even if that's working outside your comfort zone," Moormann added.

Working in rotations, Grissom's team were able to finish one house and get it moved out onto the site and start another one - handing it off to the next rotation for completion.

Throughout the years, the Air Force has been joined by Soldiers, Sailors and Marines coming to the aid of the Native Americans at Gallup. Each service uses this real-world mission as a training opportunity to hone skills.

Part of the challenge is getting the job done within a predetermined time frame with Airmen who are undergoing training at the same time, said Moormann.

"While it's not a time sensitive project, there are places you want to be within those two weeks to maximize training time," he said. "But you want to make sure you get it done right because people are living in them."

And, when the training is done, a family gets a home, which is a rewarding experience.

"We met one of the families; the lady had been waiting for her house for eight months," Moormann said. "It was onsite so we trenched from the house to the utilities hook up so she could have water and was just waiting on electrical hookups."

They had eight people living in a two-bedroom house, so getting that new house was huge for them, he said.

There are 72,000 people within a reservation of 60 square miles in Gallup, and 20 houses are built each year through this service.

"Twenty families a year get a new house because people like us go and train and help them," Moormann said. "You can't help but feel good about that."

The 434th CES is a part of the 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command.

Its members can be found swinging hammers and flying refueling missions around the world at any given time. To stay connected, visit Grissom on Facebook and Twitter.

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Turning dirt

Hanging drywall

Digging a trench

Grissom Airmen put training to work

Public Affairs Staff