FEST stands for Forward Engineer Support Team. It is an eight-person team made up of two military personnel and six U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) civilians. The FEST provides responsive technical engineer planning and design to military forces in contingency operations.
USACE civilians in the following disciplines are needed on the team: civil engineering, structural engineer, mechanical engineer, electrical engineering/technician, environmental engineering/scientist, and GIS/topographer. Volunteers must have the support of their supervisors, be medically qualified to deploy to austere environments, and be able to obtain a security clearance.
Deployments are six to nine months in duration depending on the location. However, FESTs can go places for shorter durations based on the mission requirements. For more information on the FEST, visit our
Frequently Asked Questions section.