Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers
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United States Air Force Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) units are the service's equivalent of the Army's Corps of Engineers and Navy Seabees.
RED HORSE squadrons provide the Air Force with a highly mobile civil engineering response force to support contingency and special operations worldwide. Units are self sufficient, 404-person mobile squadrons capable of rapid response and independent operations in remote, high-threat environments worldwide. They provide heavy repair capability and construction support when requirements exceed normal base civil engineer capabilities and where Army engineer support is not readily available.
RED HORSE units possess weapons, vehicles/equipment and vehicle maintenance, food service, contracting, supply and medical equipment.
Their major wartime responsibilities are to provide a highly mobile, rapidly deployable, civil engineering response force that is self-sufficient to perform heavy damage repair required for recovery of critical Air Force facilities and utility systems, and aircraft launch and recovery.
In addition, they accomplish engineer support for beddown of weapon systems required to initiate and sustain operations in an austere bare base environment, including remote hostile locations.
In peacetime, RED HORSE units train for contingency and wartime operations. They participate regularly in joint chiefs of staff and major command exercises, military operations other than war(MOOTW), and humanitarian civic action programs. They perform training projects which assist base construction efforts while at the same time honing wartime skills.
Air Force RED HORSE units possess special capabilities, such as water-well drilling, explosive demolition, aircraft arresting system installation, quarry operations, concrete mobile operations, material testing, expedient facility erection, and concrete and asphalt paving.
Currently, there are four active duty RED HORSE Units, the 819th RED HORSE at Malmstrom AFB, MT, the 820th RED HORSE at Nellis AFB, NV, the 554th RED HORSE at Andersen AFB, Guam, and the 823rd RED HORSE at Hurlburt Field, FL.
