Cadet 2nd Class Nicholas Espinoza and Navy Midshipman Clinton Spencer conduct a stress test on a concrete beam during the Air Force Academy's Field Engineering Readiness Laboratory June 7, 2011. The beams are designed to withstand a load of approximately 5,100 pounds per square inch. (U.S. Air Force photo/Ray McCoy)
Cadet 2nd Class Dustin Wilson cuts lumber for a wood structure construction project during the Air Force Academy's Field Engineering Readiness Laboratory June 1, 2011. FERL is a three-week summer course designed to teach cadets how to perform civil and bioenvironmental engineering projects in austere locations. Cadet Wilson is assigned to Cadet Squadron 04. (U.S. Air Force photo/Bill Evans)
Cadet 2nd Class Sebastian Constable, left, and other cadets enrolled in the Air Force Academy's Field Engineering Readiness Laboratory construct a concrete slab June 7, 2011. FERL is a three-week course required for cadets majoring in civil or bioenvironmental engineering. Other topics covered in FERL include surveying and building roads and structures. Cadet Constable is assigned to Cadet Squadron 11. (U.S. Air Force photo/Ray McCoy)
Cadets 2nd Class Anthony Vahling, left, and Ezra Petersen check out a sample of asphalt while touring the Rocky Mountain Materials and Asphalt plant in Colorado Springs, Colo., June 10, 2011. The plant tour is part of the Air Force Academy's Field Engineering Readiness Laboratory, a three-week summer course required for cadets majoring in civil or bioenvironmental engineering. Cadet Vahling, a native of Teutopolis, Ill., is assigned to Cadet Squadron 17. Cadet Petersen, a native of Wichita, Kan., is assigned to Cadet Squadron 10. (U.S. Air Force photo/Don Branum)
6/14/2011 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- When you absolutely, positively need something blown up overnight, you call the U.S. Air Force. And when you need an airfield built by Tuesday, you call Air Force civil engineers.
The Air Force Academy's Field Engineering Readiness Laboratory prepares cadets majoring in civil and bioenvironmental engineering for a scenario they will probably face at some point in their careers: traveling to an austere location to build an air base from the ground up.
Cadets spend three weeks during a summer session in their junior year to learn skills such as surveying, building concrete beams and wood structures and mixing concrete and asphalt.
Most FERL activities take place in Jacks Valley on the Academy's north side. However, to learn about mixing asphalt and concrete, cadets travel south: to Rocky Mountain Materials and Asphalt, a local company established in 1977.
"The plant is really clean, very safety-conscious," said Dr. Karen Henry, an associate professor for the Academy's Civil Engineering Department and its Geotechnical Division director. "They're very gracious hosts and incredibly knowledgeable."
What cadets learn on the field trip applies to many of their senior-level engineering courses, Dr. Henry said. Tour guides discuss customizing asphalt mixes to balance durability and stability and the balance between quick-setting and durable concrete. For example, concrete's normal curing time is 56 days, but shortening agents can reduce that to as little as 48 hours; the downside is that the concrete may last only 10 years instead of 40.
Dr. Henry said that for her, the highlight of teaching CE is being part of cadets' intellectual development.
"I get to teach courses in subjects I really like, so being able to share my enthusiasm ... what a great way to earn a living," she said.
For cadets, one of CE's big draws is how easily it applies to jobs both in the Air Force and the civilian market, said Cadet 2nd Class Clayton Elliott, who is assigned to Cadet Squadron 25.
"I'm planning to fly, but I'll probably do CE after I get out of the Air Force," he added.
