Aviano Airmen tackle dirty jobs

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Matthew Lotz
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  An Airman's job gets dirty, but the Airmen of the 31st Civil Engineer Squadron water and fuel systems maintenance office take it to a completely different level.

By providing clean water and fuel to the base, the water and fuel systems maintenance team helps sustain Aviano's mission. According to Staff Sgt. Ryan Moran, 31st CES water and fuel systems maintenance NCO in charge, without clean water for the base, squadrons would have to budget purchasing bottle water to drink or find or find other possibilities to have clean water.

Even though providing clean water and fuel to the base might not sound dirty, the process it takes to reach their goal is when things get messy.

Once a week, Senior Airman Benjamin Krage, 31st CES water and fuel systems maintenance journeyman, and other fellow Airmen provide upkeep on the septic tanks or grease traps that need to be emptied.

"We venture out to various locations on different areas of the base, to find what we like to call our 'job security.' Almost all buildings on base have a septic tank and the ones with kitchens have grease traps. The smell as you lift off the cover to one of these 'jewel mines,' is unexplainable," Krage said.

Referring to the thousand gallons of human waste and grease they collect once a week, the "job security" Krage and his coworkers collect each week demonstrates the importance of this "dirty job."

With more than 40 septic tanks and grease traps, thousands of gallons of septic waste, and only five Airmen, the water and fuel systems maintenance crew partners with local experts to get the job done.

Airman 1st class Anthony Boe, 31st CES water and fuels system journeyman, said that because the Trav-L-Vac 300 vacuum tank size limits the amount of waste they can collect, 31st CES calls Ecocell, a local contractor, to properly dispose of the potentially hazardous material.

While the water and fuels systems maintenance crew teams up with Italian partners to care for the environment, they are solely responsible for a number of other duties, including fixing toilets and urinals and help replace fire hydrants. They also help provide fuel to the jets. For services that happen on non-duty hours, they have a 24-hour on call Airman in case of an emergency.

Although it can be a dirty job, the Airmen at the 31st CES can't imagine doing anything else.

"The best part about our job is knowing what we are doing on this base is very important," Boe said. "I can honestly say, I have the best job in the Air Force."