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Engineer gets the job done, earns Air Force recognition

  • Published
  • By Greg Allen
  • 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The 27th Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron Deputy, Operations Flight said he never imagined what he and his fellow engineers would face when the base changed from a fighter jet to a special operations command.

But the Air Force recognized that Kenny Cable was instrumental in meeting and surpassing those challenges of change when it presented him with the Harry P. Rietman award for his leadership as a senior civilian manager.

"We thought the F-111 beddown at Cannon was something, but it was nothing compared to the [Air Force Special Operations Command] beddown," he said, remembering back to the late 1960s when he worked here as a maintainer.

Shortly after AFSOC took the reigns here, he and his team began the daunting task of building and rebuilding Cannon to meet AFSOC needs. There was a review of more than $100 million in military construction projects that Mr. Cable did as well as identifying an additional $220 million that was necessary to accomplish the beddown. There were lesser expenses as well that impacted everyone on base, such as updating and upgrading fire alarm systems and utility systems.

He and team of engineers accomplished this and much, much more while keeping up with the day-to-day needs of the base.

"We touch just about everything that happens here," he said. "If you flip on the light switch and northing happens, if your building gets cold or if you don't have water, it all comes back to us," he said.

They not only touch, they improve when they can. The base launched the Energy Star Operation Change Out program in September. The goal was to exchange more than 1,000 inefficient light bulbs for newer, more efficient fluorescent bulbs. The effort was to save $64,543 on electric bills and prevent nearly a million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over the lifetime of the bulbs.

Civil engineers also launched a water conservation program that reduced consumption by more than 100 million gallons.

These types of conservation programs, though commendable, are not generally embraced with a smile by a public that has to change its habits. Nonetheless, base civil engineers received a 98 percent customer satisfaction rating on surveys from the nearly 5,000 work order requests they accomplished.

"We are very proud of Mr. Cable's accomplishments, as that directly attests to the quality and caliber of people we have here at the 27 SOCES," said Mike Poston, 27th SOCES deputy engineer. "He has certainly made numerous contributions that have directly enabled the warfighting mission as well as quality of life on Cannon."

Mr. Cable is quick to point out, however, that the main reason he won the award was because, "My guys are the best [civil engineers] in the Air Force." He said that he can make that claim because they knew their priorities but understood that requirements could change as much as daily.

He also pointed out that, like many other units, Cannon's civil engineers were hit hard with military deployments, but even these manpower shortages dissuaded them from adhering to their "Customer First" mindset.

Cannon's civil engineer work force "makes me look good," he said, adding that he gets additional satisfaction because his days are "never the same."

After completing his tour of duty in the Air Force, Mr. Cable was then graduated from college and returned to Clovis, where he met and married his wife, Mary Ann, and raised their children. He has lived in Clovis since.

With more than 35-years of infrastructure experience here he is, as his nomination for award stated, "the expert" who can get any job done.
















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