YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Airmen with the 121st Air Refueling Wing Civil Engineer Squadron, deployed on temporary duty to conduct annual training requirements, assisted with response activities after Typhoon Jangmi affected Yokota Air Base, Japan, June 3.
The typhoon created unique challenges and training opportunities for the Airmen.
“Our role as CE is assessing and responding to damage to buildings, roads and infrastructure. When the typhoon hit, we did exactly that side by side with the Yokota engineers,” said Master Sgt. Brooke Scheidecker, 121st CES operations management production controller.
As operations manager, Scheidecker establishes response routes and corresponding damage assessments for the most critical facilities, enabling the CE team to reach and inspect them efficiently.
“For Typhoon Jangmi, we dispatched our heating, ventilation and air conditioning personnel, as well as our plumbing personnel, to clear clogged drains near roads to prevent flooding,” Scheidecker said. “Our purpose for being here is to practice what we would need to do back home or in a deployed environment, so having this real-world experience helps us to be better prepared for future scenarios.”
According to Maj. Adam Winebrenner, 121st Air Refueling Wing deputy base civil engineer, when Air Force installations are affected by natural or manmade disasters, the Emergency Operations Center serves as the central hub for installation command and control during contingencies, disasters and wartime operations. Civil engineer emergency management and Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force teams organize damage repair actions, deploy response forces and drive the base’s recovery efforts.
Once damage has been assessed, rapidly deployable civil engineer professionals, called Disaster Recovery Response Teams, are dispatched along predefined routes to ensure critical roadways and infrastructure remain operational.
“By the 121st CES supporting the Typhoon Jangmi response and EOC operations, our civil engineers can build on their capabilities and experience,” Winebrenner said. “This critical experience ensures they can mitigate weather-related risks to maintain safe and operational installations during severe weather.”
Although Typhoon Jangmi was not part of the scheduled annual training, the experience strengthened the squadron’s ability to adapt to unforeseen conditions.
“The CE Squadron is essential to the base remaining operational when real-world disasters happen,” Scheidecker said. “Without engineers and the skills we bring, the base would not be able to operate. Having the opportunity to respond with, and learn from, the 374th CES was invaluable for our team.”