Ellsworth Airmen to wear new badge

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt Lauren Wright
  • 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
ELLSWORTH AFB, S.D. --  After graduating from technical school, most Airmen receive one occupational badge to distinguish themselves as authorities in their field. When Airmen in the civil engineer readiness career field graduate, they now get two.

The new badge, approved in February, will uniquely identify Air Force readiness personnel for their combined knowledge of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense and emergency management.

"(Readiness) is in a specialty where the badge will easily identify Airmen as experts in the field," said 1st Lt. Matt Sturdevant, 28th Civil Engineer Squadron readiness flight chief. "Readiness Airmen may fall under civil engineering, but they have such a different mission, so the badge is warranted."

Readiness Airmen respond to CBNR situations, natural disasters and major accidents statewide. They also have duties to the state concerning health and emergency management. In the past, there was no occupational badge signaling these capabilities.

After the Gulf War in 1991, there was an acknowledged need to recognize Air Force specialists within the CBRN community. The need to uniquely identify Air Force readiness personnel again became apparent during operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, especially with the increased joint service and allied force operations.

Staff Sgt. Karen Harris, 28thCES NCO in charge of readiness flight training, echoes that sentiment.

"In a joint environment we often work with the Army, Marines or other foreign military members who all wear the same military badge that we will now be able to wear," she said. "As small as it may be, that extra badge will help us develop an immediate trust factor."

Chief Master Sgt. Mike Connors, who is the career field manager for CE readiness at the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency, Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., led the way as the first to receive the badge. Maj. Gen. Del Eulberg, the Air Force civil engineer, pinned Chief Connors during a ceremony at the 2006 Air Force Emergency Services Symposium in Dallas.

Now a new generation of Airmen will follow and wear the badge.

Airmen who graduated from the Civil Engineer Readiness Apprentice Course Sept. 29 were the first graduates to receive this badge. The badges were presented during their graduation ceremony at the U.S. Army Chemical Corps Museum, Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo.

The official wear date for active duty personnel was Oct. 1 and ten Airmen here are eligible to wear the badge.

The badge uses the Air Force wreaths combined with basic insignia first used by the U.S. Army Chemical Service in 1917: two crossed retorts -- glass laboratory vessels used for hundreds of years -- placed behind a benzene ring, the molecular building block of many organic chemicals. There are three levels of the badge -- basic, senior and master -- that represent increasing levels of time and expertise in the career field.

"The CE readiness badge represents an Air Force capability," said Master Sgt. Doug Smith, the Air Force emergency management program policy and guidance manager. "Those wearing it provide a valuable resource for commanders to sense, shape and sustain the battlefield while supporting Air Force personnel in a CBRN environment."

Tyndall Air Force Base Public Affairs provided information for this article.