HEART BUTTE, Mont. – Thirty-nine Airmen from the South Carolina Air National Guard’s 169th Civil Engineer Squadron and 169th Force Support Squadron built a senior center in Montana for the Blackfeet Nation Aug. 28-Sept. 10 during their annual deployment for training.
Each year the South Carolina Air National Guard seeks out opportunities like this project so Airmen can acquire and maintain skills they might not have a chance to practice during a standard drill weekend.
“The goal of this project is to build a senior center for the local community and get valuable training for our Airmen,“ said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Matt Faulknham, project lead for the 169th Civil Engineer Squadron.
The SCANG was the seventh and final rotation of U.S. military personnel to cycle through and work on this 6,000-square-foot structure, which required HVAC technicians, electricians, heavy equipment operators and plumbers. Although Airmen are each trained in a specific job, this multilayered project allowed them to learn from each other and the civilian contractor on the job site.
“I would say the best experience on the job site was working with the general contractor, going over the plans and laying out complex exterior walls,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Trey Kizer, structural journeyman. “I hadn’t had much experience with that, and that was a really rewarding experience for me.”
U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Crystal Boyd, SCANG base services manager, led the 169th Force Support team. Her team provided meals for U.S. military personnel and visitors during the mission.
Boyd’s duties extended beyond the SCANG’s time in Heart Butte; she served for the duration of construction under the Innovative Readiness Training program.
IRT is a DOD-sponsored program to match a community in need of infrastructure with military personnel selected to do the work to stay mission ready. The application process generally takes about two years.
“The military provides manpower, we get good training on it, and the locals provide material, and we get to build awesome projects like this,” said Kizer.
The SCANG planned to complete the overall project during this trip, but supply chain issues prevented that.
“The roof trusses won’t be available for a few more weeks,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Justin Feeney, 169th Civil Engineer Squadron and electrical shop supervisor for the project. “We worked the project up as far as we could without being able to do the roof and without the rest of the materials at the job site.”
The civilian contractors will take over the project.
“The work was meaningful,” said Feeney. “We got a lot of experience, and we got to put new people in leadership positions that haven’t gotten to do that before.”