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Mission Ready Airmen: 375th CES builds Gate Overhang

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Stephanie Henry
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing

A new overhang at the Cardinal Creek Gate is now completed and ready for use, thanks to a project led by the 375th Civil Engineer Squadron.

It was designed in coordination with the 375th Security Forces Squadron to meet the required standoff distances, maintain clear fields of view, and ensure that all emergency vehicles can access the gate when needed.

It also provides defenders with protection from the elements, reducing weather-related gate closures and improving overall working conditions, helping sustain operations during inclement weather.

The project brought together 28 civil engineers from six different Air Force Specialty Codes as part of a Troop Training Project designed and executed entirely by military members.

Troop Training Projects are intended to expand Airmen’s skillsets beyond their primary career fields. Although the effort centered on structural work, electricians, Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning technicians and heavy equipment operators contributed as well. They helped with the excavation, concrete footing pours and arch installation, gaining hands-on experience in building a structure commonly used at deployed locations.

Senior Airman Gavin Vaughn, a structural journeyman, was the lead on the construction site, marking the first project of this scale under his direction.

“It was definitely a challenge to learn how people operate differently,” said Vaughn. “Learning what strengths there are across the team and taking into account that this is a Troop Training Project over everything else, and that it is not only an opportunity for me but also for others to get hands-on training they may not yet have.”