Okies at Silver Flag

Senior Airman Krystopher Clarke, 507th Civil Engineer Squadron works on equipment at a Silver Flag exercise at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. May 18, 2013. Twenty Nine CE Reservists “deployed” to a simulated location with the goal of setting up, establishing and running a fully operational base in a contingency environment. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Lt. Col. Patricia Pettine)

Okies at Silver Flag

Civil engineers participating in a Silver Flag exercise at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., work on equipment to establish an operational bare base in a contingency environment. Twenty Nine 507th Civil Engineer Squadron Reservists “deployed” to the location in May. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Lt. Col. Patricia Pettine)

Okies at Silver Flag

Civil engineers participating in a Silver Flag exercise at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., place runway matting down to establish a temporary airfield supporting simulated F-16 and C-130 operations. Twenty Nine 507th Civil Engineer Squadron Reservists “deployed” to the location to train in setting up and establishing a fully operational base in a contingency environment. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Lt. Col. Patricia Pettine)

Silver Flag exercise trains, prepares 'Okie' civil engineers

Published June 28, 2013
By Maj. Jon Quinlan
507th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Twenty Nine Reservists of the 507th Civil Engineer Squadron "deployed" to a simulated location with the goal of setting up, establishing and running a fully operational base in a contingency environment.

The week long training exercise, better known as Silver Flag, was hosted at the Tyndall AFB, Fla. remote training site in field conditions.

Civil engineers are often the first boots on the ground setting up the initial layers for a contingency base. Silver Flag tests and trains CE teams in this vital mission and does it away from home station in austere conditions just like what you could see in a real deployment.

This training was established so there in not a gap in training or knowledge of Airmen when they go downrange according to CE Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force managers.

"CE Airmen assigned to Prime BEEF teams have to attend Silver Flag every 45 months," said Lt. Col. Patricia Pettine, 507th CES commander "We've all been doing this our whole career and always look forward to the training opportunity."

The mission for the 507th Reservists was to join forces with around 130 other active duty, Guard and Reserve engineers and establish a simulated base for over 1,200 personnel, multiple F-16C's and C-130J aircraft missions and to do so as quickly as possible.

Set up and maintenance is a huge undertaking and took the entire team according to Pettine. The engineers first conducted the bed down planning, force protection security and then started work on the construction. They established a unit control center and then erected shelters, established power, electrical, water and wastewater operations. Then they provided Airfield Damage Assessment teams, crash, fire and rescue operations, and led convoy operations.

The training is all about preparing the Airmen and establishing an example of what to expect when deploying. If it's a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear event occurring while setting up a tent or showing Airmen how to react post attack, the training will help them and could save their life, according to Prime BEEF instructors.

Airman 1st Class Talisa Edmundson, 507th CES was awarded for her performance in the exercise winning the Outstanding Performer Award.