GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - Keeping the morale high among Joint Task Force Troopers is an important mission that is always on the minds of JTF leadership.
In an effort to keep the work force comfortable, three Air Force National Guard civil engineering squadrons will conduct their two-week annual training here to revitalize Camp America facilities and support construction projects around the naval station.
"I contacted the National Guard Bureau and requested six teams of civil engineers," said JTF Command Master Chief, Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Brian T. Schexnaydre. "They said they could support my request and gave me three teams to start, and would work on getting three more."
Upon taking over as JTF command master chief, Schexnaydre identified various areas of Camp America that could benefit from revitalization.
Without wasting any time, he set the wheels in motion.
"Nature took its toll on the facilities," Schexnaydre said. "Some of the shower facilities needed attention, because they didn't work properly. It was necessary to initiate the changes."
Three representatives - from California, Tennessee and Maryland - visited here recently to coordinate efforts and begin planning for upcoming summer rotations.
"We'll renovate some of the latrines at Camp America and implement shower facility upgrades with new shower heads," said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Jeffrey L. Myers, a representative from the 163rd Civil Engineering Squadron in California. "We'll install adequate ventilation for the facilities and repair some of the existing infrastructure because there are some walls with rust damage. We'll also replace the existing sinks with stainless steel sinks."
In addition to the changes in the latrines, the civil engineers will also replace some air conditioning units and conduct minor maintenance on additional facilities around Camp America.
The opportunity for the additional civil engineering squadrons came at a convenient time.
"NGB got in touch with our respective units and asked if we were interested," Myers said. "We had some individuals who wanted to experience this kind of work, so we thought we'd step up to the plate."
For the Maryland-based 175th CES, their annual training was scheduled to take place in Arizona for the second year in a row.
"We didn't mind getting pulled from that mission to come and support the JTF," Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Janice Grennon said. "This kind of project allows us to utilize every skill set we have in civil engineering and that's extremely rare during our two-week training. Typically we only get to utilize two out of the five or six shops during annual training, so this is a really good project to make sure people are maintaining their skills."
The Tennessee-based 118th CES recently returned from a four-month deployment in Iraq.
"We have a Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force unit," said Chief Master Sgt. Robert Hosseini with the 118th CES. "When we're deployed, we do rapid runway repair, engineering, surveying and support hospital facilities; basically anything around the base. During peacetime, we take care of base facilities managing maintenance through various shops - utilities, structures, electrical, power production and heating, ventilation and air conditioning."
Even though some of the unit members have only been back for a couple of months, Hosseini said, some members were ready to deploy again.
"Typically a 100-man team is deployed," Hosseini added. "For these projects we will have approximately 50-man teams."
For troopers living within Camp America, news of the upcoming construction is something to smile about.
"Right now, the air-conditioning unit doesn't function properly in my room, so this is good news," Army Spc. Jose Rosaryo said.
Another resident of Camp America expressed interest in the upcoming facility changes.
"I think we will be more comfortable with the new facilities," said Army Spc. Emmanuel Mercado.
"I think we can do the construction with little or no inconvenience to the Troopers," Myers said. "The biggest thing is coordination of materials. We should be able to keep a construction schedule that's pretty accurate for where we want to be when we leave."