Airman makes large impact in first year of service Published April 13, 2011 By Staff Sgt. David Alfonso 30th Civil Engineer Squadron VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Airman 1st Class Mark Robertson, a 30th Civil Engineer Squadron heavy vehicle operator, has only been in the Air Force and out of technical school since August 2010. In his short amount of time, he has acquired skills, knowledge and on the job experience some people don't see in their entire careers in the heavy equipment and pavements career field. In just this past month (March 2011), Airman Robertson has been able to put his knowledge and experience into action, as well as his base community involvement. Not only has Airman Robertson assisted with the Airman's attic move to a new facility in moving heavy furniture, but he has also assisted with receiving and restocking donations made to the Airman and Family Readiness Center Food Pantry Program, a program open to base families that offers support to families struggling with financial burdens. As of mid-March, it was reported that the Food Pantry program is assisting in alleviating strain to 21 families on base with the program. Work-wise, recently Airman Robertson volunteered his off duty time to provide heavy equipment operations support as well as Hand labor on a 30th Civil Engineer Squadron electrician section led project that partnered with Pacific Gas and Electric, to accomplish a massive undertaking project at Space Launch Complex-3. They replaced 6,000 feet of high voltage underground cable pulled through six manholes. The project saved the Air Force $150,000 in contractor costs and secured power for the $1 billion National Reconnaissance Office satellite launch. If the project wasn't done on time, it would have made the launch schedule slip. Airman Robertson also provided his heavy equipment operations with expertise by assisting on the first ever complete power outage for K-sub. The K-Sub Project consisted of reconfiguring the entire South Base power grid, which provided safe work clearance for PG&E. The project revamped the entire substation. The result of the project produced more reliable power for South Base. Currently, Airman Robertson is in the process of completing The Air Force's only Wildland Fire Dozer Training. The training is an annual, two week, 84-hour wildfire certifying program, which is required for all 30th CES fire dozer operators. Complying with a California initiative in 1998, Vandenberg adopted the National Wildfire Coordinating Group's Red Card qualification system, which requires each member to be fully qualified to hold a desired position at the scene of a wildfire. For fire dozer personnel, the Wildland Fire Dozer Academy is one of the many requirements they must complete before achieving Red Card status. Wildland Fire Dozer team members also have to learn all of the items included in the 10 Standard Fire Orders and know how to respond to 18 different watch-out wildfire scenarios. The training incorporates a lot of fitness as well. The fire dozer operators are also responsible for supporting all launches from Vandenberg by positioning fire dozers at appropriate staging areas; fuels management (prescribed burns and fire breaks); wildland fire suppression; mutual aid support; and they also provide training to other Air Force and outside agencies. Airman Robertson's section foremen, Joseph Nunez, speaks highly of the young Airman. "He's an excellent Airmen," Mr. Nunez said. "He is the kind of guy that indulges completely all his effort into a project with 100 percent effort." Staff Sgt. Jason Culverson, of the 30th CES, trained Airman Robertson on heavy equipment operating and operations. "He is the kind of guy you don't have to teach over and over or hand-walk through Operations," said Sergeant Culverson. "He's a real easy person to train and assign jobs to without having to worry about the jobs getting completed with a great finished product."