HAMPTON, Va. — When you think of Langley Air Force Base, you probably think of jets taking off from the famous flight line, but there's a whole squadron of civil engineers making sure the airmen can do their jobs.
The 633d Civil Engineer Squadron is made up of several teams that create and protect the infrastructure of the base, with the Engineering Flight watching over construction.
“We watch each project from cradle to the grave as project manager and then, as inspectors, we have to go out on the site every day and make sure it’s going as planned, going as scheduled," said Technical Sergeant Aeisha Bray.
Then, there's the team that handles everything from road repair to plumbing: the Operations Flight.
“People can’t do their jobs if they can’t turn the lights on, can’t use their sinks," said Capt. Orrin Donaldson.
Ronald Best — a civilian — is an Environmental Program Manager. He oversees Langley's relationship with the surrounding ecosystem, ensuring it meets federal environmental regulations, among other duties. The base is nearly surrounded by water that's part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
“I’m very very weary of the environment and I want to make sure we’re safe," Best told News 3 during a recent visit.
From creating and maintaining Langley's infrastructure...to protecting it. There are several groups with the Civil Engineer Squadron tasked with that important job, starting with base's own fire department, which responds to fires on base and in the surrounding Hampton community if called upon.
"I'm the Fire Inspector, so if there's any type of fire in the buildings that's my fault," said William Roland, an Air Force veteran who came back to work at the Langley AFB Fire Department as a civilian. "Aircraft, we can't do too much about so if they get anything that pops up on their screen or their gauges, show something that's not right, we'll respond to that too."
The Emergency Management Flight covers a wide range of emergencies, including offering training on nuclear and biological hazards, with Sgt. Nick Barnum showing off the team's protective gear, including a gas mask.
"We also deal with natural disasters, man-made disasters, things like hurricanes," he said.
As with any military base, sometimes there are explosives involved — whether it be because of a threat or training that's happening.
On Langley Air Force Base, that's when a group called Explosive Ordinance Disposal gets involved.
"We basically go on calls for any bomb threats or IEDs," said Senior Airman Cody Sims.
Sims showed the team's T-7, a remote-controlled robot that handles and disposes of explosives so people don't have to put themselves at risk.
"We have a really cool mission set here, where we work with Secret Service a lot up in D.C. Anytime [the President of the United States] and [Vice President] travel, we travel with them and we're searching areas where they're going into and making sure it's safe for them," said Sims.
He says the EOD team at Langley will also do the same work for foreign heads of state visiting the U.S. Most recently, Sims says he pre-scouted Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hotel room in Washington, D.C. ahead of the Ukraine president's meetings at the White House.
There are a lot of moving pieces that making up Langley Air Force Base's 633d Civil Engineer Squadron, our Squadron of the Month for August 2025. Congratulations!
