TAC SGPB BIOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING EXPERIENCES AND

File: aabgm_16.txt
Page: 16
Total Pages: 23
    BEE WARTIME ROLE - Most of the young bioenvironmental engineers
    and some of the senior bioenvironmental engineers are not clear
    on exactly what our wartime roles are. This was common complaint
    voiced during the Post Desert Shield/Desert Storm Workshop. Since
    many of the BEE'S duties are shared with other organizations such
    as Civil Engineering and Disaster Preparedness this compounds the
    problem. There is a need for clear and detailed audience on what
    our roles are. Directives such as AFR 160-25, AFR 355-1, and War
    Mobilization Plan WMP) are vague, outdated, and in some
    instances require EE to perform duties for which we do not have
    the skill to do or the equipment to do it with.
    
    DECON TEAMS & BEETs - Each patient decontamination team had four
    BEETs assigned. Approximately 46 of the total 76 BEETs in the
    AOR were assigned to decon teams. Initially, half of the decon
    team chiefs were senior BEETs. Although the BEETs were doing a
    fabulous job as decon team chiefs, this was at the expense of the
    BEE teams since the most senior BEETs were being used to run the
    decon teams. Consequently, the senior-BEETs were removed from
    the decon team and replaced with junior BEETs.
    
    MANNING ISSUES:
    
               ATH (UTCs FFGK2 & FFGK5) - The assigned manpower and
               experience levels were appropriate or short duration non-
               wartime operations. However, for long term sustainability
               and/or wartime NBC operations, additional manpower is
               required. While most medical personnel had little or
               nothing to do once the ATH was erected, the BEE folks were
               constantly performing flight-line industrial hygiene
               surveillance drinking water monitoring, and public health
               functions.  Once the war started, there were not enough BEE
               personnel to adequately perform their NBC detection duties.
               Although NBC detection was done, it was not done in a timely
               fashion or across a large sector of the airbase.
               Consequently, there is a need to create a BEE Augmentation
               Team package (UTC & TA) similar to the Patient Decon Team to
               supplement the ATH BEE staffing during prolonged deployments
               or during wartime conditions.
          
               ATC/SME (UTC FFDAB) - TAC Regulation 400-10 requires that a
               BEET be assigned to an ATC when the ATC is deployed to a
               bare base. This is excellent guidance and should have
               automatically driven the assignment of 907XOs; however, this
               did not happen. Instead, 907XOs were assigned to ATCs at
               the direction of USCENTAF/SGPB in response to flight surgeon
               requests for assistance with water surveillance and NBC
               detection.
    
              HOME BASE RESIDUAL STAFFING - At most TAC bases, there were
              insufficient experienced BEE personnel remaining once the
              mobility taskings had been filled to meet the home station
              mission. At several bases, the entire BEE shop deployed.
              To ensure there is corporate knowledge about the base
              programs, and to provide program continuity, either a senior
              90770 or bioenvironmental engineer should remain at home to
              direct the base programs.
    
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