One of eight Career Fields in the Support Career Group, Civil Engineering (3E) comprises a dozen Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSC), two of which have their own Duty Badges (Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or EOD, and Emergency Management). Enlisted Airmen serving in the Fire Protection specialty (3E7X1) carry a special Duty Shield when performing Fire Protection duties.
The specialties included in the Civil Engineering Career Field can be grouped by the tasks performed by specialists and the equipment they use to carry them out; these groupings are made more explicit by the structural organization at the Superintendent level in the Air Force Enlisted Classification Directory.
Facility Systems specialties include Electrical Systems (3E0) and Electrical Power Production (3E0); Infrastructure Systems comprise HVAC (3E1) and two E34 specialties, Pest Management and Water and Fuel Systems Maintenance (3E4); and Heavy Repair covers Pavement and Construction Equipment (3E2) and Structural specialists (3E3). Two of the remaining five specialties, Engineering (3E5) and Operations Management (3E6) are grouped with the previously mentioned specialties at the Chief Enlisted Manager (3E000) and classified as Civil Engineer; the EOD, Fire Protection, and Emergency Management specialties all have their own CEM codes.
For the Civil Engineering badge, two design elements—a gear and a draftsman’s compass—have been employed because of their close association with engineering and construction, two of the main tasks performed by Airmen in these specialties. As a primary component of machinery, the gear is the embodiment of the application of scientific maxims for use in technology to achieve pragmatic goals. The gear has an even more profound meaning for USAF engineers, in that it is an emblem of a constructed element that interacts and meshes with other constructed elements—in this case, trained Airmen and the weapon systems which they wield. The compass, of course, is the invaluable tool used in the design and construction processes, and when combined with the gear it is the perfect picture of the broad range of diversities within this Career Field working in tandem to achieve mission objectives.
The basic Civil Engineering badge is awarded to members of all Specialties within in the 3E Civil Engineering Career Field upon completion of their training at technical school. Airmen who have earned the EOD badge wear it in conjunction with their Civil Engineering (CE) badge, but the EOD badge does take precedence over the CE badge if the Airman is filling an active EOD billet. Senior- and Master-level badges are awarded according to standard requirements.