CEMIRT Tech Helps at Home

  • Published
  • By John Burt
  • HQ AFCESA/CEBH
HQ AFCESA --  With inspections bearing down, the 325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall AFB, Fla., needed support with power service panels at each of its communication facilities. Fortunately, they didn't have to look far. The Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency, headquartered at Tyndall, was not only close by, but had the experienced personnel to offer support.

With the time crunch, Senior Master Sgt. Alex Thomson, AFCESA's electrical systems career field manager, and Staff Sgt. Justin Swanberg, an electrical technician at AFCESA's Civil Engineer Maintenance, Inspection and Repair Team received an informal request for assistance to test the power systems of these facilities prior to an upcoming inspection.

Sergeant Thomson was the first contacted to assist members of the 325th and the civil engineering squadron.
 
"Due to the safety hazards of the work involved, I went to AFCESA's CEMIRT division and asked if they could provide another electrician to help with this task," Sergeant Thomson said. "Staff Sergeant Swanberg stepped up and volunteered."

The team conducted ground checks at 13 facilities, ensuring they were in compliance with the Air Force Instructions concerning grounding systems. This type of work required power outages on facilities that operate vital systems, such as the Eastern Air Defense Sector Net, and had to be scheduled around normal operational flying hours. Beginning at 10 P.M., and continuing until after dawn, the team went through every power panel at these buildings.

"We recertified the panels to make certain that the service neutral and equipment grounds were up to code," Sergeant Swanberg said. "We annotated everything so the 325th would have what they needed for their upcoming Air Traffic Standardization and Evaluation Program inspection."

Any issues that the team discovered during their recertification were also documented so that they could be addressed by the civil engineering squadron.

On Monday, June 6, Col. Mike Fleck, Commander of the 325th Mission Support Group visited CEMIRT to recognize Sergeant Swanberg for his work.
 
"He took his time to go through 13 of our facilities at the wing because he is a team player. This is an absolute old-school get-it-done attitude where nothing is going to stand in your way," Col. Fleck continued, "I want to publically express my appreciation for his work."

Sergeant Thomson was glad to see the recognition for the CEMIRT technician.
 
"Staff Sergeant Swanberg did a phenomenal job. He gave his time and stepped outside of his normal duties to help us out." Sergeant Thomson continued, "He was the one turning off the power, turning it on again and safely disabling the panels for our inspections. He did the bulk of the work."

Under normal operations, the wing would have looked to the civil engineering squadron or contractors to complete the task. Sergeant Thomson points out that these circumstances gave AFCESA a chance to step up and help the base.

"We knew they had time constraints. We had a chance to help out right here at home and that's what we did. It's about the team."