USAF Civil Engineering AKA Prime Beef Challenge Coin

Civil engineers have been part of the Air Force journey each step of the way, utilizing every component of our force — from active duty to reserve, officer to enlisted, GS-civilian to wage grade, the National Guard and partners from sister services, allies and coalitions as well as contracted support — to provide advanced fighting platforms and ready engineers prepared for duty.

This history and effort has allowed CE to “lead the way” and become the service provider of choice for our capabilities in combat settings.

Maj. Gen. Augustus Minton led the AFCE career field as the longest serving Air Force civil engineer from 1957-1963. Minton’s leadership qualities and philosophies can be summarized in three words: pride, professionalism and performance. Minton took great pride in the professionalism of the AFCE career field and initiated a name change from air installation officer to base civil engineer. Minton also said, “To the average person, the term civil engineer denoted a professional with a background of experience, education and so forth. I think an engineer with the education and experience has specialized knowledge and experience just like a doctor or lawyer.”

Today the Civil Engineers have a mission and vison: Deliver Civil Engineer expertise and services, strengthening installations and enhancing combat power. Revolutionizing Civil Engineer solutions to enhance readiness and increase lethality. AFCEC missions include facility investment planning, design and construction, operations support, real property management, energy support, environmental compliance and restoration, and audit assertions, acquisition and program management. The unit conducts its operations at more than 75 locations worldwide. The newest division is The Natural Disaster Recovery Division, or CFD,  and was established in 2021 as part of the AFCEC Built Infrastructure Investment and Recapitalization Initiative. The division enhances the Department of the Air Force’s ability to recover from natural disasters and sustain mission operations at installations affected by these adverse events.

This coin is dedicated to the hard working men and women AFCE   who see to getting our military personnel ready for what lies ahead of them in the field.

Minted in bronze and given antique finish, this coin is imbued with bold colorful enamel on both sides.

Each coin measures 1 3/4 inch (44mm) in diameter.