Pest management team abuzz about job

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Nicole Leidholm
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  In a world where bees, cockroaches, spiders and snakes roam free, there's one team of Airmen who keep Travis safe.

The entomology team, better known as pest management, does exactly that; manages pests.

The shop performs a variety of tasks on a daily basis, which includes anything from cleaning up dead animals on roads, spraying for ants and other insects to handling bees snakes they also save animals that are trapped, lost or injured.

"We kill bugs, save strays and bring them to the Solano County animal shelter and put down any dangerous animals," said Airman 1st Class Dustin Stone, 60th Civil Engineering pest management. "Anything that deals with pests, we deal with it."

"We are the first responders," said Tech. Sgt. Reinhard Valleau, 60th CES pest management craftsmen.

Thay take care of any pests that keep the mission from going, from pests that may harm people to cockroaches and termites in buildings he said.

"When we get aircraft from Japan they must be disinsected," Valleau said. "It gets put on quarantine and inspected. If entomologists find Japanese beetles, it can't leave until treated with pesticides."

"We are the final word on how it gets treated," Stone said.

"The number one thing we focus on is sanitation." Valleau said. "First we survey and try to control them. The last resort is pesticides."

Animal handling is dirty. Cockroaches have diseases on them so we have to be careful when handling them, Valleau said.

The dirtiest part of my job is getting sprayed by skunks and trying to get the smell out of my uniform Stone said.

Along with skunks; raccoon attacks and pesticides being blown into their faces pose a hazard to the job. The Airmen wear personal protective equipment, like air purifying respirators, to stay safe while doing the job.

The best part of the job is the satisfaction of making a situation safe while helping the environment, Valleau said.

"When I am presented the opportunity to save an animal, it puts a smile on my face," Stone said. "I also enjoy contributing to the cleanup of roads on base, so I don't mind dealing with road kill."

Saving a baby barn owl and taking it to the wildlife center is one of the greatest moments in his career, he said.

"In this job, you can't be afraid of heights, cant't have Ophidiophobia, a fear of snakes, arachnophobia, fear of spiders and you can't have entomophobia, a fear of insects," Valleau said. "You can't be afraid and you have to have the ability to improvise."

Aside from managing pests, pest management also does education seminars to teach people about their job. They have a bee conservation where they collect the honey bees and put them in bee hives so they don't harm people. Brian Kennedy, 60th CES pest management, started the bee advocacy program because they are going away.
They also use their shop reptiles, a ball python and leopard geckos, to teach people about the animals and how to treat them.

"I like this job because it is never the same," Valleau said.