Related Media Master Sgt. Gary Wemple of Taylorville smoothes concrete with Senior Airman Leonard Avery of Williamsville, while installing a sidewalk at the Navaho Nation's Adult Program Administration building.

Master Sgt. Gary Wemple of Taylorville smoothes concrete with Senior Airman Leonard Avery of Williamsville, while installing a sidewalk at the Navaho Nation's Adult Program Administration building. Master Sgt. Christopher Small of Springfield, gives a thumbs up to the concrete truck driver while installing sidewalks.

SAINT MICHAELS, ARIZ. (06/29/2011)(readMedia)-- When the wind blows, the red dust leaves the high desert plains and stings the eyes.

In this, coupled with 90-plus degree heat, the Airmen of the 183rd Civil Engineer Squadron, 183rd Fighter Wing in Springfield worked nine to12 hours each day in the desert plains. But despite hard work and fiery temperatures that would wilt most, at the 183rd's work site you hear playful bantering and laughter amid the banging hammers and saw buzz.

"When I was in Afghanistan, we were helping people – and that was good," said Senior Airman Leonard Avery of Williamsville. "To be helping people here in the United States - it just means so much more."

Approximately 35 members of the squadron helped construct a 3,200-square-foot adult programs building for the St. Michaels Association for Special Education in the heart of Navajo Nation from June 18 to 30. The 183rd was the sixth of eight annual training rotations to work on the building this year. It is scheduled to open in August.

The facility is part of a five-year Department of Defense-sponsored, Air National Guard-conducted Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) project now in the second year. IRT projects train troops in their military skills while helping communities. With the Navajo project, the non-profit association pays for supplies and materials. The Department of Defense, through the Air Guard, provides the labor, tools, equipment, management, building plans and oversight – worth $10.1 million. This more than halves the cost to the association and allows the project to be completed far earlier than the association could have done alone, said Gillis Chapela, the association's executive director.

"The troops get a big thank-you from all of us," Chapela said.

The adult programs building will be used to teach life skills to close to 30 developmentally challenged adults. It is the second facility built for the association; the first was a nursing facility. A total of seven buildings will be constructed the project and many others will be renovated. The association, established in 1968 by a Catholic nun, serves as both a school and home for about 80 children and young adults with severe disabilities from across the Native American reservation.

National Guard Bureau leads the project with the Arizona Air National Guard, New Mexico Air National Guard and Colorado Air National Guard providing much of the logistics, contracting support, administration and planning. Units from Illinois, Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina, Utah, Wyoming, Florida, Guam, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Jersey, Arkansas, Tennessee and Montana have provided construction crews and additional planning.

photo 1) U.S. Army photo by Maj. Brad Leighton, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment/ Members of the Illinois Air National Guard's 183rd Civil Engineer Squadron, 183rd Fighter Wing in Springfield, spread concrete in the Arizona sun while constructing a sidewalk to the Navaho Nation's Adult Program Administration and Daily Life Skills building near St. Michaels, Ariz., June 28. Pictured from left are Staff Sgt. Eric Horn of Lincoln, Senior Airman Leonard Avery of Williamsville, Master Sgt. Christopher Small of Springfield, Master Sgt. Gary Wemple of Taylorville, Tech. Sgt. Eric Benson of Pekin, and Senior Airman Martin Tintori of Springfield. The construction is as part of the Air National Guard's Innovative Readiness Training Program in cooperation with the St. Michaels Association for Special Education.

photo 2) U.S. Army photo by Maj. Brad Leighton, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment/ Master Sgt. Gary Wemple of Taylorville smoothes concrete with Senior Airman Leonard Avery of Williamsville, while installing a sidewalk at the Navaho Nation's Adult Program Administration and Daily Life Skills building near St. Michaels, Ariz., June 28. In the background is Staff Sgt. Eric Horn of Lincoln. The Airmen are with the Illinois Air National Guard's 183rd Civil Engineer Squadron, 183rd Fighter Wing in Springfield. The construction is being part of the Air National Guard's Innovative Readiness Training Program in cooperation with the St. Michaels Association for Special Education.

photo 3) U.S. Army photo by Maj. Brad Leighton, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment/ Master Sgt. Christopher Small of Springfield, gives a thumbs up to the concrete truck driver while installing sidewalks at the Navaho Nation's Adult Program Administration and Daily Life Skills building near St. Michaels, Ariz., June 28. To the right of Small is Staff Sgt. Andrew Laning of Saybrook, Master Sgt. Gary Wemple of Taylorville, and Staff Sgt. Eric Horn of Lincoln. The Airmen are members of the Illinois Air National Guard's 183rd Civil Engineer Squadron, 183rd Fighter Wing in Springfield. The construction of the building is part of the Air National Guard's Innovative Readiness Training Program in cooperation with the St. Michaels Association for Special Education.

Story by Maj. Brad Leighton, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment