JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- -- Arriving at work in the winter on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is a special event. Once the obstacles have been avoided on the drive in, the dreaded parking lot awaits. You bundle up, take a few deep breaths, and lunge into the below-freezing temperatures. Instantly the sharp cold penetrates your nostrils and clothing. Ice is crunching below your feet as you shuffle like a penguin. A blast of warm air hits you as you enter the building and reassures you that you’ll make it through the day. That reassurance is brought to you by the hard working men and women of the 773d Civil Engineering Squadron’s Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigerant shop.
Not much thought goes into who keeps everyone warm in the winter, until the heater stops working. The same goes for the summer months when the AC stops pumping. It’s quite a thankless job, but the HVAC/R crews are happy to do it.
“When we complete a job, there’s definitely a sense of accomplishment,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Derek Haigh, HVAC/R craftsman. “If the customer is happy, we’ve helped out in some way. We might not be putting bombs downrange directly, but we’re definitely supporting the mission.”
With the exception of schools and housing, the 773d HVAC/R crews are responsible for keeping every building on the Elmendorf side heated, and two buildings on Richardson. Even the hangars are kept warm so the crews can perform their jobs.
During the winter months, almost every service request is turned into an emergency because of the extreme cold. Not only are people a concern; water lines are at risk of bursting which creates more problems. There’s never lack of work for the technicians.
“It can get pretty challenging,” Haigh added. “Balancing HVAC/R work with getting your readiness items done, computer-based training, supervising troops, can become taxing when you’re out all day on the job.”
Crews are in the shop at 7 a.m., briefed, and out taking care of business by 8 a.m., working on various jobs throughout the base. A typical day can have technicians working on a broken steam pump, replacing faulty piping, troubleshooting heater motors, or installing new refrigerant for a cooler. These are just a few of the problems encountered on a daily basis.
How do they measure success? “We measure it in customer satisfaction,” said Haigh. “If people don’t know who we are, then we’re doing our job. We go in and do the work so fast that it doesn’t slow down the customer’s mission. If the computers are working, then we know the servers are being cooled properly. A meeting in a conference room goes well because no one is focused on staying warm, or cooling down. If people don’t know who we are, than we are doing a great job.”
As winter slowly begins to melt away and spring creeps in, the HVAC/R crews will be able to finish jobs they couldn’t in the winter due to snow and cold. Most of the exterior work is performed in the summer months and as soon as that’s wrapped up, their focus turns towards keeping things cool. That is, until Mother Nature comes back and decides to do the job herself.