RED HORSE restructures to elevate deployment capabilities

When the 819th RED HORSE Squadron was presented with the challenge of accelerating change to increase deployment capabilities across their enterprise, they responded with an innovation that will completely change the way RED HORSE trains at home and how they deploy overseas.

"One of the big objectives is to make sure we are ready to confront the challenges of the future," said Lt. Col. Javier Velazquez, 819th RHS commander. "The only way we can possibly do that is by building our teams in garrison the same way that they are going to be deployed and working together."

RED HORSE stands for Rapid Engineer Deployable, Heavy Operational Repair Squadron, Engineer. They are self-sufficient and mobile squadrons capable of rapid response and independent operations in remote environments worldwide. In addition to civil engineers, the squadron includes Airmen from more than 30 career fields.

Over the last several decades, RED HORSE squadrons organized themselves by those career fields. They spent time primarily with people who do the same job while they were in garrison and only built deployment teams when tasked to mobilize. This meant that when a RED HORSE team deployed, they would have to build camaraderie and learn to trust one another in the deployed environment.

"Nowadays we don't have that luxury," Velazquez said. "We need to be sure that we can hit the ground running on day one and that's exactly what we're trying to achieve with our new structure."

Now, the squadrons will be restructured into teams based on their ability to fulfill a specific purpose. These teams include horizontal construction, demolition and quarry, vertical construction, expeditionary engineering, site assessment and support functions.

This means if a combatant commander needs, for example, an airfield built at their location, RED HORSE would send them a horizontal construction team that includes all the right people, tools and assets necessary to complete that task.

Members of the 819th RED HORSE Squadron inspect a crater after a simulated mortar attack during an exercise May 3, 2021, at Malmstrom Air Force Base. Part of the exercise scenario involved assessing and repairing damage that could be caused during contingency operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Heather Heiney)

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