By Col Tom Glardon

Most folks across AFIT and the Air Force Civil Engineer and Services communities recognize the world-class continuing education provided by the Civil Engineer and Services School. To provide this education, the school has assembled one of the most accomplished corps of engineer and services experts DoD-wide. CESS touts expertise in airfield pavements engineering, power systems, contingency design, construction programming, emergency management, hospitality management, military protocol, air quality management . . . and dozens of other unique bodies of knowledge. As a result, the Air Force exploits this corps of experts in a life-long learning relationship that CESS knows as “the consultation.”

Civil Engineer and Services School faculty are recognized leaders across the Air Force community in their areas of expertise and participate in Air Force bodies that govern mission areas. For example, Maj Ryan Novotny and Capt Chad Rogers have served for years on the tri-service Airfield Damage Repair modernization group, advocating and winning $1.1M to field safe expedient airfield repair technologies and mapping out a $12M modernization program to upgrade contingency airfield operations. Maj Chris Senseney and Maj Chris Stoppel champion the Air Force Prime BEEF and Emergency Management Panels (respectively), forging the programs used by each base to deploy and safeguard both personnel and the mission. Professor Jack Gaffney and Mr Ed Hess serve the Air Force Civil Engineer on the Asset Management Transformation Summits, defining the newest business practices of the engineer units. Each CESS faculty member provides unique service back to the Air Force community, while at the same time staying plugged into the operational issues of that community.

The Civil Engineer and Services school embodies life-long learning. CESS faculty teach highly specialized subjects. When the students return to their bases and/or when they deploy, they invariably face issues for which they have no resource or reference other than their instructor from back at AFIT. When that happens, we get the call. On an annual basis, the school fields approximately 200 consultations, each of which requires hours of research and coordination on the part of the faculty member. For example, Capt Patrick Kolesiak advised Kandahar Air Base in the development of a mission beddown plan. Capt John Volcheck designed mechanical systems for a new Predator Simulator Facility at Creech AFB. Capt Bryan Cooper assisted CENTAF/A7 in developing a program of education for Iraqi forces on infrastructure maintenance and repair functions.

Operational consultations serve two missions at once: (1) consultations directly support the operational mission of the Air Force, and (2) consultations provide an invaluable form of practical real-world experience which is integral to the continuous professional development of the quality faculty at the Civil Engineer and Services School.