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JBPHH civil engineers conduct PRIME BEEF exercise at Bellows

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nathan Allen
  • 15th Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii --  The 647th Civil Engineer Squadron from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, brought the "bull" to Bellows Air Force Station, Hawaii, May 21 - 25 to practice their ability to respond to contingency operations worldwide.

In times of crisis or military need, Base Engineer Emergency Force, or PRIME BEEF teams deploy to austere locations and provide runways, water supply facilities, electricity, housing, and other essential facilities to support joint and coalition forces worldwide.

During this exercise, Airmen from all career fields within the Civil Engineer Squadron were brought together to perform a task, regardless of their individual Air Force Specialty Code -- a dynamic synonymous with the real-world demands of a PRIME BEEF team.

"On a deployment all you have out there is each other," said Tech. Sgt. William DeGuzman, 647th CES structural craftsman. "This exercise really sets the tone to make people more comfortable with working together and doing whatever needs to be done, even if it's outside of your specialty."

While Airmen participating in PRIME BEEF largely put their specialties aside to accomplish tasks, there is still individual career field value to be garnered from the event according to Airman 1st Class Raymart De Asis, 647th CES contract inspector.

"Being able to get out of the office and learn the work behind what we inspect is really nice."

Likewise, the most important purpose of this exercise may be exposing new civil engineers to the correlation between the exercise and real-world deployments, said Tech. Sgt. Robert Finton, 647th CES pavement construction equipment craftsman.

"It's very beneficial to people who haven't been deployed," he said. "It ensures we remain a highly mobile contingency unit."

The work of PRIME BEEF teams can be seen throughout U.S. military history in countries like Lebanon, Germany, Cuba, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, the Federated States of Micronesia, and domestically in recovery efforts for natural disasters including Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Agnes in 1972.