British and American engineers build closer relationship

Airborne engineers have been working alongside their United States Air Force counterparts to share their skills for repairing runways.

23 Parachute Engineer Regiment have joined forces with 100th Civil Engineer Squadron, based at RAF Mildenhall, for an Airfield Damage Repair (ADR) masterclass. At Rock Barracks in Woodbridge this week (22-26 Jan), the soldiers and airmen familiarised themselves with each other’s equipment and techniques. Then, with US airmen driving British light wheel tractors and excavators and British soldiers at the wheel of USAF dump trucks, they worked together to clear a concrete apron to create an ADR training area for both units to use.

ADR is a key skill for 23 Para Engr Regt in its role in 16 Air Assault Brigade, the British Army’s airborne rapid reaction force. After the seizure of an airfield, sappers would conduct rapid repairs to runways - such as filling craters and removing obstructions - to enable further troops and equipment to be flown in. 100th CES has heavier equipment for the long-term maintenance of runways, with servicing Mildenhall’s 1.74-mile runway its core role. On operations, 23 Para Engr Regt could find themselves handing over a runway they have opened up to 100th CES to maintain.

Major Daniel Weeks, 100th CES’s operations flight commander, said: “It’s very likely that a future NATO operation could see us working alongside our British counterparts to prepare, fix and operate airfields. This week we’ve got a lot of stick time on each other’s equipment and developed a good understanding of how each other operates and how we could get the job done together. “It’s great that both of our units are based here in Suffolk and able to establish this relationship ahead of potentially working together on an operation anywhere in the world.”

WO2 Jim Stevens, a 23 Para Engr Regt military plant foreman, said: “The skillset and role of our two units is very similar, but we use different equipment and procedures, which we’ve been able to familiarise each other with this week. It’s been a really interesting and productive experience, and a relationship that we plan to develop with further joint training using more and heavier equipment.”