MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Beams of light pierce the darkness as Airmen crawl underneath a facility hoping to deter insects. As the light sweeps the length of the tunnels, the Airmen spread bait to exterminate any bugs.
While most people prefer not to be in the vicinity of creepy crawlers, it’s up to a shop of only six 23d Civil Engineer Squadron (CES) pest management Airmen to keep the base and its facilities free of health hazards, which in turn, keeps Moody’s Airmen mission ready.
“We save the Air Force money…we protect the food, equipment and the public health of everyone on base,” said Senior Airman Aaron Rasch, a pest management Airman with the 23d CES. “Being a part of the Air Force, our main job [stateside] and especially downrange is to fight an enemy if we have to, but if we don’t take care of the populous of the base, Airmen won’t be deployable. They won’t be able to go out and do what they need to. So, it might seem like a far stretch, but we affect the mission in a big way.”
According to Rasch, just one food facility on base can produce over 200k meals a year, making entomology’s required inspections significant to each food provider and Airman on base. It’s not just food facilities, they are responsible for 340 buildings across Moody. Preventing pests reduces the spread of bacteria such as salmonella and Escherichia coli.
“We do spot survey treatments [meaning] we go down into the crawl space of a building and survey the area we suspect to be and use granulated or gel bait to treat it,” said Staff Sgt. Cory Schollmeyer, a pest management Airman with 23d CES.
In addition to maintaining the facilities on base, entomology strives to prevent Airmen from being harmed by critters within the area. Alligators, deer, birds and several other animals have the potential to produce rabies and can be bite and scratch threats. To limit contact with animals, entomology employs seven different traps around Moody, creating a safe environment for Airmen.
“We also do mosquito fogging and trapping to prevent Zika and malaria and we’ve been successful,” said Rasch.
Even though entomology may work behind the scene, their efforts are vital to the mission.