Mission
The 325th Civil Engineer Squadron is responsible for Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., encompassing 128 miles of shoreline and 17,000 acres of commercial forest. Tyndall has 1,601 facilities with an approximate replacement cost of more than $1.6 billion. The squadron has a spread of military, civil service and contractor personnel performing the operation, maintenance, repair and construction of real property to effectively sustain Tyndall's land and facilities. Responsibilities include base fire protection service, base readiness, explosive ordnance disposal, environmental programs, natural resource programs, military family housing and real property management.
To read about Tyndall's updated Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan, click here.
History
The 325th Civil Engineer Squadron was constituted as the 325th Aviation Squadron on Oct. 6, 1942 and activated on Oct. 17, 1942. The squadron was stationed at Foster Army Air Field, Victoria, Texas, in charge of installation maintenance in support of the advanced single engine flying school for fighter pilots. On Feb. 17, 1943, the 325th Aviation Squadron was relocated to Bryan Army Air Base, Bryan, Texas. The 325th Aviation Squadron was disbanded on April 30, 1944. It was reconstituted and consolidated with the 325th Installations Squadron, Fighter, All Weather, on May 10, 1948. The squadron was relocated to Moses Lake AFB, Wash., on Nov. 26, 1948, and fire protection, crash and rescue small operations were added to the responsibility of the installations squadron. The squadron was relocated to McChord AFB, Wash., in 1950. In 1960, the 325th Installations Squadron was redesignated the 325th Civil Engineer Squadron. The Lebanon crisis of 1958, Berlin crisis of 1961 and Cuban missile crisis of 1962 demonstrated the need for mobile civil engineer teams ready for immediate deployment. As a result, Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force (BEEF) teams were created. In 1968, the 325th CES was discontinued and inactivated. In 1970, responsibility for the environmental protection program was given to the directorate of Engineering and Services.
The 325th Civil Engineer Squadron was reactivated in July 1, 1981 at Tyndall. The logistics community of the Air Staff agreed to pass functional management of explosive ordinance disposal to the Air Force civil engineer in April 1991. The disaster preparedness function was relocated to the 325th Civil Engineer Squadron in March 1993. In 1997, the squadron's operations flight was outsourced, and 230 military positions were replaced by contractor personnel.
The 325th CES emblem is symbolic of its many diverse activities that support the base. Blue and yellow are Air Force colors. Yellow refers to the sun and the excellence required of Air Force personnel. The bull represents the unit's involvement in Prime BEEF and reflects its commitment to mobility and readiness. The bull's great strength alludes to the unit's strength as part of the wing's "One Team One Vision" concept. The bull's strong balanced stance denotes the four essential elements of civil engineering. The lightning flashes symbolize the squadron's speed of action and reaction in deployment.
Current as of: Oct. 20, 2021