Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      U.S. Air Force civil engineers fly a Small Unmanned Aircraft System during a newly adopted Rapid Airfield Damage Assessment System training course at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Jan. 23, 2019. Throughout the first week of training, Airmen focused on learning to fly the SUAS. During the second week they learned to fly the RADAS mission while using the SUAS systems.PACAF cultivates CE Airmen with ground-breaking RADAS training
                        
                        
                        U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jason Holmes, 51st Civil Engineer Squadron engineer apprentice, stationed at Osan Air Base, South Korea, and Airman 1st Class Shane Leaphart, a 773d CES engineer apprentice, conduct a preflight inspection on a Small Unmanned Aircraft System during a newly adopted Rapid Airfield Damage Assessment System training course at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Ala., Jan. 23, 2019. Throughout the first week of training, Airmen focused on learning to fly the SUAS. During the second week they learned to fly the RADAS mission while using the new system. (Photo by Airman 1st Class Crystal A. Jenkins)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        U.S. Air Force civil engineers fly a Small Unmanned Aircraft System during a newly adopted Rapid Airfield Damage Assessment System training course at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Jan. 23, 2019. Throughout the first week of training, Airmen focused on learning to fly the SUAS. During the second week they learned to fly the RADAS mission while using the SUAS systems.PACAF cultivates CE Airmen with ground-breaking RADAS training
                        
                        
                        U.S. Air Force civil engineers fly a Small Unmanned Aircraft System during a newly adopted Rapid Airfield Damage Assessment System training course at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Ala., Jan. 23, 2019. Throughout the first week of training, Airmen focused on learning to fly the SUAS. During the second week, they learned to fly the RADAS mission while using the SUAS systems. (Photo by Airman 1st Class Crystal A. Jenkins)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jesse Johnson, 673d Civil Engineer Squadron construction manager, operates a Small Unmanned Aircraft System during a newly adopted Rapid Airfield Damage Assessment System training course at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Jan. 23, 2019. Throughout the first week of training Airmen focused on learning to fly the SUAS. During the second week they learned to fly the RADAS mission while using the new system.PACAF cultivates CE Airmen with ground-breaking RADAS training
                        
                        
                        U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jesse Johnson, 673d Civil Engineer Squadron construction manager, operates a Small Unmanned Aircraft System during a newly adopted Rapid Airfield Damage Assessment System training course at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Jan. 23, 2019. Throughout the first week of training Airmen focused on learning to fly the SUAS. During the second week they learned to fly the RADAS mission while using the new system. (Photo by Airman 1st Class Crystal A. Jenkins)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

PACAF cultivates CE Airmen with ground-breaking RADAS trainingPublished Jan. 31, 2019
                    
                    By JBER Public Affairs
                    
                    
                    JBER Public Affairs
            **JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AFNS) --**For more than nine days, 12 civil engineer Airmen from several Pacific Air Force bases recently participated in a secondary operator training course as a part of the newly adopted Rapid Airfield Damage Assessment System here.
RADAS, one of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s latest research and development projects, is designed to significantly reduce hazardous exposure Airmen might encounter, as well as reduce the time the airfield recovery and assessment process takes.
“In the Air Force, our war-fighting platform is the airfield. Our job is to be able to recover one quickly with great efficiency, so we are leveraging the newest technology to be able to do that,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Nicholas Nabors, AFCEC Chief of Expeditionary Engineering and Modernization. “As part of the RADAS fielding effort, we are training Airmen to become skilled sensor operators as opposed to just drone pilots. In a very short amount of time we are able to take our civil engineers, who are already trained to rapidly assess airfield damage, and give them an incredibly useful tool with advanced capabilities.”
This new innovative technology, currently adopted by the Pacific Command and fielded through PACAF, cultivates the region’s long-term capabilities of competing, deterring, and winning by saving lives and cutting flightline recovery times in a real-world scenario.
Throughout the first week of training, the Airmen focus on learning to fly the Aeryon SkyRanger Small Unmanned Aircraft System. During the second week, they learn to fly the RADAS mission while using the SUAS systems.
“Coming from a civil engineer background, we are used to challenges; learning how to use the SUAS was no different,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Jason Holmes, 51st CES engineer apprentice stationed at Osan Air Base, South Korea. “We did everything from preflight inspections to written and practical qualification tests. I think the advancements we are making in airfield assessment keep us fresh and ready for the fight tonight and tomorrow.”
In operational use, the SUAS is capable of quickly deploying and locating airfield damage as well as unexploded ordnance, left after a base attack. The real-time view gives both engineers and base leadership the ability to have a stitched-together mosaic of flightline images instantly, in addition to the rewind and zoom in or out controls while viewing the airfield during an assessment.
“Under the legacy style of airfield assessment, a team of four or more Airmen physically go and assess,” said Nabors. “RADAS not only reduces the number of our Airmen (exposed to hazards) down to just one or two, but gives leadership a near immediate ability to prioritize mission capabilities sooner through its networking capabilities. Through these types of advancements we remain ready for the future.”
Throughout the training course, operators overcame the cold temperatures faced and it was proven the SUAS operates well in harsh environments and demanding weather conditions, said Nabors.
The CE Airmen will continue to train with the current SUAS operationally with hopes of making them mainstream across the Air Force in the near future.673d Civil Engineer Squadron 



civil engineer 



Rapid Airfield Damage Assessment System 



RADAS 



Air Force Civil Engineer Center 



Pacific Command 



Expeditionary Engineering and Modernization 



AFCEC 



Aeryon SkyRanger Small Unmanned Aircraft System 



SUAS 



51st CES 



Preflight Inspections 



practical qualification tests

Related Links
        RADAS Mission
                                
                                Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson welcomed a team of 12 civil engineer Airmen from several Pacific Air Force bases last week. The engineer specialists learned how to operate Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems as part of the newly adopted Rapid Airfield Damage Assessment System, or RADAS across PACAF. Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                Kendall, Allvin, Saltzman urge modernization while warning Senate of delayed budgets
                    
                    Readout of Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall’s travel to the Philippines
                    
                    Air Force senior leaders visit Eielson AFB
                    
                    Air Force leaders focus on ACE during Kadena AB visit
                    
                    USAF senior leaders visit Mariana Islands on ACE tripInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Cope Tiger concludes in Thailand
                    
                    Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil