During contingency operations such as inclement weather, power outages or base attacks, the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron has a vital role in sustaining operations within the 51st Fighter Wing. These responsibilities were exercised during Beverly Herd 25-2, a wing readiness exercise that took place here, Jan. 26-31.

Among the many members of the 51st CES who help in contingencies, two teams have a direct impact on sustained warfighting operations by providing assessments and mitigating effects from potential attacks: damage assessment repair team and emergency management support team.

“The DART is a specialized team consisting of three members from the following AFSCs: electrical systems, water and fuel system maintenance, and structural repair,” said Senior Master Sgt. Christopher Johnson, 51st CES operations flight superintendent. “This team is vital to post-attack and disaster recovery because they provide the war operations center real-time damage assessments of critical infrastructure after missile or ground attacks.”

DART members are assigned to one of three sections of the base and survey their route to look for damage to structures, check on the status of infrastructure providing critical resources to the base, such as water or electricity and to report unexploded ordinances.

Accurate reports provided by DART give base leadership a detailed snapshot of the resources and capabilities available to accomplish the mission and allows them to prioritize where repairs are needed.

EMST is managed by the emergency management office and is augmented by mission ready Airmen from across the wing. Members in EMST receive advanced post attack reconnaissance training focused on preparing, responding and recovering the base following adversarial attacks, including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear events against an air base during contingency operations.

The 51st FW implemented EMSTs in April of 2024, taking away the requirement for most units to maintain PAR teams. This allowed hundreds of Airmen to remain focused on their specialties, increasing the readiness of the base according to Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Walkup, 51st CES emergency management plans & operations section chief. “EMST provides critical base support to prepare, respond, and recover during contingency operations.”

Osan has ten teams of Airmen responsible for detecting contamination while sweeping their designated routes. By accurately reporting conditions, these teams reduce the amount of time the rest of the base spends in more restrictive protective postures.

“The employment of this support team significantly reduced the number of Airmen at risk during the peak deposition time of chemical contamination, from potentially hundreds to just 40 individuals,” said Walkup. “This enables quicker, risk-based decisions for senior leaders to reduce [personal protective equipment] levels and hastened the ability for fighter generation squadrons to launch attack sorties, bolstering Team Osan’s lethality and survivability.”

Exercises like the Beverly Herd series provide the Airmen of the 51st FW opportunities to test and hone skills and capabilities like those provided by DART and EMST.

“In the Air Force, our power projection platform is our base,” emphasized Johnson. “EMST and DART, they’re really the eyes and ears for the base to get out of post attack; they’ve got to be very vigilant when they’re out and about on their routes.”