31 CES provides clean sweep

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Cary Smith
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  Imagine entering Aviano Air Base and seeing fast food cups, energy drink cans and theater candy wrappers lining the streets.

One of the first thoughts after passing the strewn litter may be, "Who will pick up all this trash?" The answer is all Team Aviano members can do their part to maintain a clean base, just as a shop of heavy equipment Airmen does.

The 31st Civil Engineer Squadron horizontal repair section does their part by providing street sweepers to keep all corners of the base clean.

"Our main priorities with the sweepers are the airfield and perimeter road on Area F," said Staff Sgt. Steven Leary, 31st CES pavement and construction equipment craftsman. "It's important for the mission and morale that we are out there every day cleaning up the airfield and streets."

The horizontal repair Airmen and civilian employees literally step up to help clean the base with heavy equipment. Their section houses four large green street sweepers with circular brooms attached underneath, which they use to clean the different areas of Aviano.

The number one priority of the sweepers is keeping the airfield clean.

"The flightline sweeper operator checks for foreign object damage (FOD) and any large objects on the tarmac while they make their passes," said Staff Sgt. Lee Thorpe, 31 CES heavy equipment supervisor. "There could be any number of hard-to-see objects out there that the circular brooms pick up."

Sweepers can only collect normal everyday debris, such as small rocks, leaves and trash. Large objects can get sucked up into the aircraft, so it's important the sweeper operators coordinate with airfield management teams to remove the larger debris.

While one sweeper is busy clearing the tarmac of all objects, others are circling the main roads of different areas.

"At least once a week, we clean the parking lots on Area 1 before the morning traffic comes in," said Leary. "We want to help make sure people are coming onto a base they can be proud of."

The whole process of each sweeping job lasts approximately two hours. Although the sweepers are taken out several times per day, they still do not get all the debris off the streets.

"We try our best here with our sweepers, but we can only do so much," said Leary. "Honestly, the best people to clean up are the ones who find the trash."

Rather than depending solely on the large sweepers to pass by, each and every Wyvern can take a few moments to pick up trash when they see it.

Aviano is home to thousands of Airmen, civilian employees and their families. It is important that every member keeps in mind the owner versus renter mentality. A simple act of picking up trash on the way to the car can go a long way.

"Having a clean base can have a positive impact even if people don't realize it," said Leary. "If the 31st Fighter Wing commander is out there grabbing trash off the road, so can you."