Ferguson takes time with CES civilian Airmen

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Michael Harner
  • Commander, 14th Civil Engineer Squadron
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Last week, Columbus Air Force Base hosted several high-level distinguished visitors from Washington, D.C. for a one-day orientation of the installation's mission, personnel and community. One of the visitors was Kathleen Ferguson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations. Ferguson is responsible for the management, policy and oversight of the $6 billion annual Air Force installation and facility programs. These programs include facility management, base closures, military construction, family housing, acquisition, maintenance, operation, repair and disposal of real property. In essence, she is the senior Air Force civilian for civil engineering.

During her time with the BLAZE team, Ms Ferguson was given a mission brief, toured the base and interacted with the Airmen. In addition, she took time out of her busy schedule to hold a civilian call for the 14th Civil Engineer Squadron. As a career civil service employee, Ferguson started her career at Plattsburgh AFB, N.Y as a design civil engineer and has been a part of civil engineering community throughout her more than 30 years with the Air Force.

While speaking to the squadron, Ferguson discussed the acceleration of the civil engineer transformation that is occurring at Headquarters Air Force, all major commands and base level squadrons. She also discussed how the civil engineer community will consolidate resources from the commands into a centralized support organization managed through two forward operating agencies. In addition, she talked about the impacts to the Secretary of Defense's request for two rounds of Base Realignment and Closure, as well as entertained other presented by 14th CES civilians. Her willingness to meet and discuss openly the view from the top with the civilian work force was most appreciated and extremely well received. She clearly articulated the importance of staying the course and finding ways to be more innovative and in the end emphasized how engineers will continue to lead the way as we build ready engineers, build great leaders, and build sustainable installations.