Engineering Squadrons Fortify Pacific Airfields, Advance Agile Combat Employment

Air Force civil engineers recently completed a deployment to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to revitalize historic runways and infrastructure abandoned after World War II on the neighboring island of Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands, helping prepare the Pacific theater for future operational requirements.

Virginia Air National Guard service members assigned to the 203rd Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers, 192nd Mission Support Group, 192nd Wing, deployed to Guam and Tinian and traded their traditional red unit caps for the 513th Expeditionary Red Horse hat.

The deployment unified three distinct units under the 513th flag: Virginia's 203rd Red Horse; the Florida Air National Guard's 202nd Red Horse; and the active duty 819th Red Horse, stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana.

Together, these airmen, traditionally nicknamed "dirt boys" for their heavy equipment and pavement specialty, fortified airfields to bring the Air Force's agile combat employment operational concept to life. The ACE framework relies on dispersing forces rapidly across remote, austere spoke locations to complicate adversary targeting and increase survivability.

"The work is vast in nature and truly historical," said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Neil V. Keane, 203rd Red Horse senior enlisted leader. "Currently, the deterrence package we are advancing is more than $11 billion to date across the Pacific Air Forces area of responsibility. This underscores the importance of our mission and urgency to set and sustain the theater."

The effort demanded extreme adaptability in civil engineering. Shortly after arriving in the theater earlier this year, the unified squadron sheltered in place as two Category 5 typhoons battered the Mariana Islands. Once the storms cleared, the team pivoted to recovery operations before resuming construction under unforgiving geological and logistical constraints.

"First, the ground here isn't standard dirt - it's near-solid coral and limestone," said Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Steven Bond, 203rd Red Horse Guam operations superintendent. "When we tried using our standard dozers, excavators and graders to carve out the airfield ramps, they barely made a scratch. We ended up using an asphalt milling machine guided by 3D GPS to cut through the rock."

Supply chain limitations added another challenge.

"We don't have dedicated military cargo planes to move our heavy engineering assets," Bond said. "To get around this, we must rely entirely on civilian maritime vessels to ship our dozers, materials and tools from island to island."

Throughout the storm recovery and construction, the 192nd Wing Chaplain Corps deployed religious support teams to support airmen on the ground. The first team, consisting of Air Force Chaplain (Maj.) Robert Hunter and Air Force Master Sgt. Stephen Scull, 192nd Religious Affairs noncommissioned officer in charge, coordinated more than 500 pounds of essential gear and requested supplies to Tinian.

The second rotation, consisting of Air Force Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Matthew Incorvaia and Air Force Staff Sgt. Wleed Muhmmad, 192nd Religious Affairs airman, assembled and distributed 48 morale care packages across the island.

"I was amazed by the resiliency of our 203rd Red Horse members and their willingness to care for one another and the families within these communities while working through their own challenges related to the aftermath of these storms," Hunter said. "On deployments, sometimes it's the little things that provide a positive morale boost that can make a difference over the weeks and months."

The squadron's long-term footprints will outlast their rotation. Across Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, and Misawa Air Base, Japan, engineers were able to complete various stages of assembly for 20 arch-shaped, heavy-gauge steel warehouses designed to safeguard regional prepositioned war material kits.

Headquartered at the State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the 203rd is the Virginia Air National Guard's largest squadron. Red Horse units operate as self-sufficient, highly mobile heavy-construction teams capable of building expeditionary bases, revetments and runways in high-threat, bare-base environments.

"We are directly posturing the U.S. military to provide a combat-credible deterrence in the Pacific," Bond said. "Success means knowing these runways and warehouses are going to stand for decades. Even if future priorities or missions change, this infrastructure will be ready."

The unified 513th Expeditionary Red Horse successfully completed its deployment, overcoming a 12-day advanced departure schedule to secure a massive strategic footprint across the Pacific theater before handing operations off to the incoming rotation.

With main troop movements complete, the squadron's hard work directly sets the region up for agile combat employment operations that disperse forces across remote locations to increase survivability.

Future planning is already underway as the team coordinates with regional planning and engineering groups for potential joint construction in the Philippines, Japan and Australia, while incoming forces are positioned to immediately continue concrete foundation work, warehouse construction and asphalt paving operations.