BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. —
Over 140 Airmen assigned to the 60th Civil Engineer Squadron conducted a multi-day bivouac training exercise focused on expeditionary skills, ensuring readiness for deployment scenarios, Feb. 25-28.
This exercise, which was run by the CES prime Base Emergency Engineer Force Program, began with convoy operations, from Travis AFB to Beale AFB, California. Upon arrival, they immediately began the tent city construction, setting up nine tents and installing the heating ventilation and air conditioning units to ensure each tent had proper climate control.
Following tent set up, Airmen trained on establishing defensive fighting positions using sandbags, emphasizing the importance of speed and precision. Airmen simulated the pressure of combat conditions, honing their ability to complete the task swiftly while meeting the required standards.
In addition to the training, support was provided by 60th Force Support Squadron. The team provided essential meals for the 60th CES Airmen training to include meals ready to eat rations served for lunch, and a burger burn in the evening provided by the 60th CES leadership.
“There are some squadrons who don’t get to TDY as a full squadron,” said US. Air Force Master Sgt. Ilya Demchuk, 60th CES section chief. “We had about 140 members from Travis as well as a Beale team and a few folks from Fairchild [AFB, Washington], so it was a pretty big team that came out to support this exercise.”
On the second day, training shifted to land navigation and individual movement techniques, combat first aid simulations and field sanitation. Travis members, including first-term Airmen participating for the first-time, used these skills to reinforce tactical proficiency necessary in austere environments.
“If you have the opportunity to be a part of a bivouac exercise, it’s great,” said Demchuk. “You meet new people, take part in a convoy, interact with different AFSCs [Air Force Specialty Code] from different bases, and get hands on experience. There is only so much that a computer-based training can give you of value, it gives you familiarization but to be doing it hands on, for me personally, has been a value add.”
