“Civil Engineers Lead the Way” – It’s a common refrain around the halls of any Air Force Civil Engineer organization, and it does not merely apply to those engineers who wear the uniform. Everyday, civilian engineers around the world provide the necessary leadership in a career field constantly beset with change. Whether establishing bare-base operations, supporting provincial reconstruction efforts, or maintaining Air Force bases at home and abroad, “leading the way” simply could not happen without the contributions made by talented civilian engineers.

The Air Force Institute of Technology’s Civil Engineer and Services School (CESS) is proud to provide the educational foundation upon which much of CE’s leadership is built through the Introduction to the Base Civil Engineer Organization, an initial skills course required for all new CE officers (seven weeks) and civilian PALACE Acquire Interns (three weeks). The course objectives are for students to understand the structure, function, and responsibilities of the CE Organization while also honing technical skills in civil, mechanical, electrical, and architectural engineering. Military students have an additional objective to understand and apply the requisite skills for expeditionary engineering during the additional 4 weeks of class, which includes one week of Officer Field Education (OFE) at Tyndall AFB. Traditionally, civilian and military students attended the course together, but in 2006 a separate class was specifically tailored for civilians as a means to provide the best possible education while reducing the costs of course administration. Having just completed the second offering of the course for 32 civilian interns in February, the Civil Engineer and Services School is confident that last year’s change is reaping dividends.

The civilian students receive education and training customized for their needs. One example is the participation of “A-list” civilian guest speakers in the most recent course including Mr. Bryan Bednar, Deputy Director of the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency; Mr. Paul Parker (SES), Director of the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence; and Ms. Kathleen Ferguson (SES), Deputy Air Force Civil Engineer. Another example is additional course time spent on civilian career development and mentorship giving today’s students a leg-up back at their base-level jobs.

As the number of CE officer accessions has declined in the past two years, creation of the civilian course allowed CESS to consolidate military students into two courses per year rather than three in order to save approximately $75K in avoided costs for OFE. This money is spent to educate nearly 80 additional students in one of the school’s many other continuing education classes.