The

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

's 285th Civil Engineering Squadron (285 CES) is an Air National Guard

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

unit located at St Croix ANGS.

History

On 7 May 1980 the 285th Combat Communications Flight (CMBTCF) was established, creating the first unit of the Virgin Islands Air National Guard. The flight was upgraded to a squadron in 1996 and made a name for itself following the devastation of Hurricane Hugo to the region in 1989, when the unit and its installation became the heart of recovery operations for St. Croix. Over the years, the unit has been involved in several contingency operations, to include Joint Endeavor,

Uphold Democracy Operation Uphold Democracy was a military intervention designed to remove the military regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état that overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The operation was effectively authorized by t ...

, Joint Forge, and both Iraqi and

Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

. On 3 March 2012 the unit was redesignated a Civil Engineer Squadron after losing its communications mission.

Assignments

Major command/gaining command

* Air National Guard/ (???- ???)

Wing/group

* 226th Combat Communications Group (1980–?)

Previous designations

* 285th Combat Communications Flight (1980–1996) * 285th Combat Communications Squadron (1996–3 March 2012) * 285th Civil Engineer Squadron (3 March 2012 – present)

Bases stationed

* St Croix ANGS,

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

(1980–Present)

Decorations

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award The Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award (ASOUA) is one of the unit awards of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It was established in 1954 as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and was the first independent Air Force d ...

* 1989 * 1 January 1990 - 31 December 1990 * 1991 * 1 September 1995 – 31 August 1997Virgin Islands ANG Public Affairs: "History of the VI ANG", unknown date

Gallery

File:US Virgin Islands ANG operations building.JPG, Virgin Islands ANG operations building File:Radio antenna US Virgin Islands Air National Guard.JPG, 285th CBCS radio antenna

References

External links

Squadrons of the United States Air National Guard Communications squadrons of the United States Air Force 1980 establishments in the United States Virgin Islands {{USAF-stub