The Civil Engineering stroy goes back to the early days of military aviation and is detailed in this comprehensive history of the career field. In realiity, civil engineers are a combination of career fields such as carpenters, electricians, firefighters, explosive ordnance disposal technicians, architects, community planners, and "dirt boyz". They use colorcul names such as Prime BEEF and RED HORSE to describe wartime capabilities.

Using hundreds of documents, articles, books, reports, and interviews, the authors thoroughly researched the topics to weave together the untold peactime and wartime history of Air Force civil engineers at all leves, from the Air Staff to the base-level flights. Featuring more than 200 illustrations and dozens of short, complementary topics, this is more than an organizational history. It tells the story of the hundreds of thousands of engineers who have supported airpower since 1907.

The book conveys how engineers provided hundreds of bases during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, and IRAQI FREEDOM while still operating and maintaining a global network of enduring, peacetime bases. This authoritative volume describes the engineers' role in the ballistic missile program and the Arctiv early warning sites and chronicles how engineers planned, designed, and oversaw the construction of thousands of homes for military families around the world. This is the story of how civil engineers have been organized, trained, equipped, and employed for more than 100 years.

Engineers take great pride in their work and their ability to get the job done. This Proud Heritage is reflected in their story recounted in Leading the Way.