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Minot Emergency Flight wins Best Air Force Readiness & Emergency Management Flight

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Josh W. Strickland
  • Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs

The 5th Civil Engineer Squadron Readiness and Emergency Management flight was awarded the 2019 Col. Frederick J. Reimer Award for distinguishing itself as the best Readiness and Emergency Management flight in the Air Force at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.

“I’m extremely proud of our WarBull Readiness & Emergency Management Team. This elite group of professionals is always innovating training and processes to improve their response capabilities and ensure preparedness for the entire installation, all the while posturing our warfighters for success downrange,” said Col. Matthew Altman, 5th Civil Engineer Squadron commander.

The R&EM flight achieved many feats during the year of 2019. The flight hosted the base’s 1st Preparedness Day, educating over 200 people on crisis recovery and emergency response. During the historical Air Force Global Strike Command Nuclear Surety Inspection they triumphed with zero findings and were lauded as an NSI “Superior Team.” While achieving these accomplishments on base they reached further and deployed over 100 engineers to three combatant commands, filling more taskings than any other civil engineer squadron in AFGSC. Additionally, they conducted the squadron’s first bivouac exercise in 10 years. The bivouac provided over 1200 reportable training hours to 96 engineers.

The Readiness and Emergency Flight consists of two sections that made the achievement of an Air Force level award possible. One half is the Expeditionary Engineering Section, tasked with sustaining squadron readiness through organization, training and equipping unit personnel to ensure engineers are ready to deploy and are equipped to complete their mission down range. The other half, the Emergency Management Section, integrates preparedness through prevention, protection, response, recovery and mitigation efforts in an all-hazards environment. The emergency managers provide chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear response capabilities and serve as emergency operations center managers during any emergency response.

Receiving the Col. Frederick J. Reimer Award is an incredible honor for our hard-working team,” said 1st Lt. Gabriel Hinding, R&EM flight commander. “There’s a lot to be proud of -from consistent superior inspection performances to the training, equipping and deployment of over 100 engineers. We are excited to carry this momentum to the remainder of 2020!”

Minot AFB has always stood and stands as a leader among the Global Strike and Air Force community, proving that it is no surprise or small feat that the Airmen, the Engineers, of the 5th Engineer Squadron stand as leaders in the Air Force Civil Engineer family. WarBull Engineers…Lead the Way!