AF Civil Engineer magazine, Summer 2003...Summer 03 • Volume 11 • Number 2 The Civil Engineer Maj Gen L. Dean Fox AFCESA Commander Col Bruce R. Barthold Chief, Professional Communications

AIR FORCE CIVIL ENGINEER 1FREEDOMIRAQIOperation

IRAQIFREEDOM

Operation

2 SPRING 2003

Maj Gen L. Dean Fox

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From The TopFrom The Top

Back to the BasesAfter 30 years of working side-by-side with many of you and observing

first-hand the tremendous work Civil Engineers do worldwide, I am humbled,but very proud, to be the functional leader for such a fantastic team. It�s agreat honor to serve all of you as we all continue to serve our Air Force andthis great country of ours.

Yes, I do mean that I intend to �serve all of you.� That isn�t belittling myposition or grade � it�s my simple philosophy for why higher headquartersexist. Over the course of my career, I�ve seen some MAJCOMs support theirbases extremely well � getting the resources; providing policy, guidance andstandards; and working to give the bases enough flexibility to get the jobdone. Unfortunately, I�ve also seen the �dark side� � MAJCOMs that thoughtthey existed for some higher purpose, but they certainly weren�t focused ontheir bases; MAJCOMs that failed to provide good facility standards;MAJCOMs that just passed money without thought for programming rules;MAJCOMs that didn�t establish goals and a focus for their bases or didn�ttrack simple metrics like housing occupancy rates or customer service;MAJCOMs that promoted little or no technical engineering support when theyknew the bases didn�t have the manning in many technical fields.

I�ve also seen the Air Staff up close and personal three times now, and I�veseen different levels of success at what I think the Air Staff should be about �supporting the people and missions at base level through our MAJCOMs.That�s why this first From the Top is titled �Back to the Bases.� I challenge usall to look at everything we do across the very broad spectrum of engineeringtasks and ensure what we�re doing is delivering first-class support to thepeople and missions at base level. If we aren�t, then let�s re-examine ourfunctions and get focused on our bases.

Again, I am honored and humbled to be The Air Force Civil Engineer. Iam proud to serve our excellent leadership and our great nation. I lookforward to serving with each of you � civilian, contractor, airman, NCO,officer, active duty, Guard and Reserve � in providing the best supportpossible to our people and missions!

AIR FORCE CIVIL ENGINEER 3

FeaturesFeatures

Departments4 Interview

30 Education & Training32 CE World33 CE People35 Unit Spotlight

On the cover �(Bottom left) Explosive ordnance disposalcraftsman MSgt Joe Cross prepares to rope off asafe area near an uncontrolled natural gas fire inthe Rumaylah Oil Field in southern Iraq, and (atright) inches closer to the fire as he clears a pathfor firefighters to approach and extinguish it(story page 18). (Top right) Airborne RED HORSEmembers pose in front of a portrait of SaddamHussein near Tallil Air Base, Iraq. (Bottom right)ARHS members in a crater on a runway atBaghdad International Airport, Iraq, beforebeginning repairs. (stories page 29)

Please send story ideas, articles, photos,comments and suggestions [email protected]

19 Airfield Engineering12 Meeting the Challenge15 Keeping the Show on

the Road16 Air Expeditionary

WarriorsBuzz and BoomNo More Bare BasesBeddown at a Bare Base

18 Fire in the Hole20 Fueling the Fight22 Engineering the

Impossible23 Taking the Reigns26 Supporting the

Warfighter28 Securing a Safe

Landing

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Air Force Civil EngineerSummer 03 • Volume 11 • Number 2

The Civil EngineerMaj Gen L. Dean Fox

AFCESA CommanderCol Bruce R. Barthold

Chief, Professional CommunicationsLois Walker

EditorLetha Cozart

Graphic DesignerJames Cline, Jr.

4 SPRING 2003

1PuttingPeople FirstAn interview with The Air Force Civil Engineer, Maj Gen L. Dean Fox

Interview

Maj Gen L. Dean Fox

Interview

Maj Gen L. Dean Fox took office as The Civil Engineer May 19, bringing with him more than 30 years of

experience in Air Force civil engineering, along with an open admiration and enthusiasm for its people. In

this interview with AFCE magazine, General Fox discusses some of his priorities as he begins his tour and

affirms his commitment to succeed in the mission by �

AFCE: Tell our readers something about you.Where were you born and raised?

Maj Gen Fox: I wasborn and raised inGeorgia. I�m a militarybrat. My father was oneof the last chief warrantofficers in the Air Force.He flew on bombers inWorld War II and laterfinished his career inlogistics. For part of myupbringing, we lived ona farm near Atlanta,where my dad worked incivil service.

AFCE: You�re onlythe second Air ForceCivil Engineer to be agraduate of the Air ForceAcademy. How did youchoose to go to theAcademy?

Maj Gen Fox: I wassitting outside my high school guidance counselor�s officeone day, listening to him talk to another student aboutapplying to the Air Force Academy. I said to myself,�He�s talking to me. He�s not talking to that guy. That�swhat I ought to do.�

I was one of six children, and it would have beendifficult for my parents to foot the bill for an education. Ihad a partial scholarship to Georgia Tech, but I wouldhave had to go through a loan program or ROTC orsome other avenue to complete my schooling, and Ithought this Air Force thing sounded awfully good.

Honestly, I wanted to fly, but I graduated in 1972when Vietnam was winding down, and they werepitching out pilots by the dozens. So I majored in civil

engineering. There were a lot of engineering degreesopen to us in those days, and that seemed to fit mydesires. I�m an avid sportsman and like to be outside.The concept of surveying or building things or oversee-ing construction sounded neat to me.

AFCE: Are those jump wings you�re wearing?What�s the story?

Maj Gen Fox: One of the summer options at theAcademy was jump school. I went through Army jumptraining and qualified at Fort Benning between myfreshman and sophomore years.

AFCE: How will you define the Office of The CivilEngineer? What are your priorities as you begin your tour?

Maj Gen Fox: Looking back on the leadership thatwe have had in our business, I don�t know that I need todefine or redefine the Office of The Civil Engineer. Dueto my paradigms and my personality, I will do things alittle differently, but I look at it as taking the example of along legacy of great leaders and applying what I�ve beenmentored to do to the changing programs and thechanging environment we face today.

My perspective, from the eight years I have spent asa major command civil engineer, is slanted toward takingcare of people at base level, so they can take care of themission. Our missions are flown from bases. Thepreponderance of our people work at, or are attached to,our bases, so we need to focus on that base-level missionand people.

I have a very strong opinion about the role of higherheadquarters. They�re necessary and should work to getresources, set policy and provide oversight so that thingscan be done better and easier at base level. They�re notthere to hinder progress; they exist to help progress.Whether it�s a major command, a numbered air force, afield operating agency or the Air Staff, those higherheadquarters, in my opinion, exist to support bases.Everything we do, whether it�s resourcing or policy, needs


to be focused on helping civil engineers get the job done.We need to look at our processes at the Air Staff and

at major command level. Are those processes just some-thing we�ve inherited from our predecessors, or are theyvalue added. If they�re not high value added, if they�re notenabling people to get the job done and not easing theburdens on a limited work force, if they�re not conservingresources or spending resources smartly, then we ought tolook at those processes and change them.

Higher headquarters also exist to fill the voids at thebases, to bridge gaps where they no longer have a bridgethemselves. As we downsized under Defense Manage-ment Review Decision 967, we lost a lot of technicalcapability and programming capability at base level.Many of our bases haven�t identified their real require-ments because they don�t have the technical expertise orthe manpower to do it. The major commands ought tofill that void, and the Air Staff ought to assist, throughAFCESA if necessary, whether it�s done by contract oranother method.

AFCE: Air & Space Expeditionary Forces have beena reality for five years now. What are the major challengesAir Force civil engineering faces today with regard tosupporting and sustaining AEF deployments?

Maj Gen Fox: We have some Air Force specialtiesin the CE career field that are stressed. We have othersthat may not be formally coded as stressed but that havehad, of necessity, long duration deployments. That�s achallenge for the Air Force. We�ve worked the issue, andthere are tradeoffs to buy back some additional man-power for those most stressed AFSs.

General Jumper has said that we are an expeditionaryAir Force. It�s a way of life now. The AEF concept hasdone what it was advertised to do in terms of predictabil-ity. When we�re at war, however, many bets are off. Wedon�t have the luxury of AEF buckets necessarily beingconfined to a set rotation. When the fight lasts a longtime, we need more forces than are available in the AEFpairs currently on the bubble, and we have to robustthem. We�ve gone outside the construct a little bit, butthere�s no question that we�re expeditionary and aregoing to stay that way.

One lesson reinforced during the most recent conflictis that airmen are the best trained and the best qualifiedto support airfields. That�s part of the benefit of the waywe train our young CE troops. We have them organicallyorganized at home station, working alongside civilianswho may have far more experience and who may be greattrainers and mentors day-in and day-out. The otherservices don�t train on airfield lighting operations, powerproduction, or generator support to airfield lighting.They don�t train with our aircrews to know what safetyclearances are and how to operate around the airfield.Our people are extremely well qualified to perform crashrescue, probably the best qualified in the world, because

they train on it every day. Our explosive ordnancedisposal troops know our Air Force munitions and aretrained to handle them. There are so many areas whereour young troops are ready to go to work on Day One ina contingency environment because they train at homestation to do the same things they will do in the field. So,airmen supporting airfields is an absolute must.

The doctrine is in place. It says airmen are bestqualified to operate airfields. Where we disconnect iswhen we have an Army installation in a contingencyenvironment that just happens to have a large runway onit. My view is, if the Army wants to support the canton-ment area, that�s fine. But if the Air Force is going to flyairlift or tanker missions in and out of there, or if fightersare going to frequent that airfield, then the Air Forceought to be manning that airfield, because we operatedifferently in our airfield environments. It�s roles andmissions, but it�s also expertise.

AFCE: Coming from an operational background atU.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Mobility Command,what is your assessment of how civil engineer support tooperators and commanders measured up during Opera-tions ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM?

Maj Gen Fox: My assessment is that our troopsperform absolutely superbly, once they�re on the site.That�s a key point. If the TPFDD (time-phased forcedeployment data) says we should be in there a weekbefore the shooters, but we arrive a month after them,then we�re fighting from a tough position and playingcatch-up from Day One.

We constantly and consistently get feedback that ourpeople are terrific. I can�t tell you the number of colonelsand general officers who were deployed as commanderswho have told me, �That individual was absolutelyfantastic. What a great engineer commander we had atmy deployed location!� My response typically is, �They allare!� It wasn�t the commander, necessarily. Hopefully heor she provided the right kind of leadership and guidanceand structure, but those troops were fantastic. They werewell trained, they know how to build and sustain tentcities, they know how to take care of the airfield, andthey know how to operate from an austere location or apretty decent contingency location. We all read quotesfrom the President of the United States and the Secretaryof Defense saying, �You�ve done us proud.�

AFCE: In contingency operations over the past fiveyears, we have seen the Total Force become a way of lifeto meet civil engineer taskings. Are we where we want tobe with regard to integrating the Air Reserve Componentinto civil engineer support operations?

Maj Gen Fox: I think we�re a long way down theroad toward where we need to be. The Air Force, in myview, does a great job deploying the Total Force. Many ofour assets, from a weapon system and aircrew standpoint,

6 SPRING 2003

are in the Guard and Reserve. We can�t get to the war,and we can�t fight the war, without the Total Force.

What we did early on during OEF was to activateARC teams and perhaps use them initially as partialbackfill where we had broken the base at home station.By the next round, we were able to pick an ARC team inthe bucket that could deploy. We need to put the ARC inthe game. They need the same kind of predictability andstability that the active force does. They need to knowthat they�re activated for a year, and they�re not going tobe jerked around.

Overall, the spin-off for civil engineering is tremen-dous, because we have some great expertise out there.We look at everything � RED HORSE, Prime BEEF,and the active, Guard and Reserve. We used it all. Wehaven�t left anybody out of the game. We absolutely reliedon the ARC to fill the gap in our stressed AFSs. Wedidn�t have to dip down too far into subsequent AEFbuckets for large teams, but for small teams like EODand engineering assistants and fire protection we wentwell beyond, and we went to the ARC early, because wecouldn�t do the job without them. In some areas we findthat our ARC members are a little more experienced thanour young active duty people, because they�ve beenaround a lot longer and some are previous active dutythemselves. What they bring to the fight is experienceand know-how, and from their civilian jobs an expertisethat is unequaled outside this country.

AFCE: What can you tell our readers about theEagle Flag initiative, its relationship to the trainingconducted at the Silver Flag Exercise Sites, and how thatinitiative is designed to better meet the training demandsof mission support groups and wing commanders?

Maj Gen Fox: That�s a great question, because Iknow there�s a lot of eagerness out there about whetherEagle Flag seeks to supplant what we do at Silver Flag. Iwill tell you what some of our senior leadership has saidand their vision of Eagle Flag. As one senior officer said,�Eagle Flag is not being created to teach cooks to cook.�Eagle Flag is not there for functional training. It doesn�tattempt to replicate or replace Silver Flag. If anything, weought to be broadening Silver Flag to include otherfunctional areas and improve their contingency supporttraining.

Eagle Flag, in a nutshell, is to fill a void in leadershiptraining, the essential leadership that we deploy to run acontingency location. Those leaders may not know howthe disparate functions beneath them operate in a contin-gency environment. Eagle Flag training allows leaders toexercise command and control in an integrated expedi-tionary combat support environment. It�s not to teach CEtroops to put up tents or how to lay an emergency airfieldlighting system. It�s to teach our leadership and give themexperience exercising the integration of those disparatefunctions.

AFCE: We have instituted significant competitivesourcing and privatization of housing and utilities overthe past several years, and that trend promises to continueat least for the near term. In your view, what�s the bestway to manage those initiatives? How do we minimizethe impact to our readiness posture?

Maj Gen Fox: First, to address our readiness posture,if we have a military need in a wartime environment or ifthere is a personnel requirement in support of a contin-gency mission, then we need to take that off the table forcompetitive sourcing. Our job is readiness. If we�re goingto adversely affect readiness through competitive sourcingor privatization, we need to fence that off.

Competitive sourcing and privatization have becomea way of life in our business. That�s frustrating to manyof us. It creates constant change. It becomes an issue ofresources. We don�t necessarily do competitive sourcingor privatization because it�s the cheapest way to dobusiness. We support those initiatives because it becomesthe only game in town. If we were fully funded torenovate or replace all of our housing, then I believe AirForce leadership would prefer to do that in-house. But wedon�t have the resources to do that.

There�s a very strong push from OSD to divestourselves of housing. The other services basically haveagreed with OSD that it�s not a core competency to

Outgoing Air Force Civil Engineer Maj Gen Earnest O.Robbins II bequeaths the traditional sterling silver CivilEngineer badge on Maj Gen L. Dean Fox at GeneralRobbins� retirement dinner, May 15.


maintain military housing, so it�s not business as usual inthe housing field.

Housing privatization is complex, and we have104,000 units in the inventory. Privatization is one of thetools that we will use to meet the goal to renovate,replace or excess/demolish all of our housing units inCONUS, except in the northern tier, by 2007. By 2008,we have to do the same in the northern tier, where theyhave a limited construction season. By 2009, we have todo the same overseas. There isn�t enough housingMILCON resourced or available, and there won�t be, tokeep it all in-house, so privatization is a must if we�regoing to meet those goals.

My concern is, understanding that privatization iswith us to stay, that we do it with good business sensefrom the Air Force and federal government perspective.We need to make sure that those business deals that arepostured for 40-50 years are good business deals for thegovernment.

AFCE: What do you see in the future of theMILCON program and the way it is structured and usedto meet base requirements?

Maj Gen Fox: The MILCON program has beenbroken for a number of years. There�s been an attempt inthe last few years to fix it, and hopefully there are betterfixes forthcoming. In the days of very lean, austereMILCON programs, the program was actually pulledback from the MAJCOMs. There�s now a centralizedmodel used by the Air Staff, based on a point system, todetermine which projects should be prioritized. My viewis if the program doesn�t serve thewing commander and the base, theprocess should be looked at.

Four-star MAJCOM command-ers may submit 50 projects or morein a given year and get nothing,not even their number one priority.That�s wrong. There are so manycentralized �corporate buy�projects that we don�t leave enoughtotal obligation authority for theMAJCOMs to have any hope ofhaving a current mission program.Setting aside new missionbeddown projects for a moment,there are things that the Air Forcewants to do that we need to reservefunding for, but beyond that, weneed to look at a methodology tocut up the rest of the pie and tellMAJCOMs that they have a portionof the current mission MILCONso that they can expect to get theirtop three, four or five projects.

My role as the Air Force Civil Engineer will be tofight for redesign of the model. The Air Force CivilEngineer is the person who puts together the model andadvocates for it with the leadership. We need to examineit and make recommendations on a smarter way tosupport the missions and the people at base level. Fornew mission beddowns, I�m a strong advocate of theview that acquisition programs need to resource theMILCON. That�s the stated policy, and I think Air Forceleadership is strongly on board for that. We need to workwith the panel structures and the Air Force Boardstructure to continuously emphasize that and ensure theydon�t take away from dorms or fitness centers or dininghalls to fix a beddown.

AFCE: How are we doing with retention in civilengineering? Have we felt any fallout from Stop Loss?

Maj Gen Fox: Our estimates are that it won�t be amajor issue. Our concern is with heavy deployments andstressed career fields and lengthy deployments, butestimates right now are not showing that we�re going tohave a major adverse impact. There are some dynamicswith the Guard and Reserve that we need to be con-cerned about. When we Stop Loss our troops, recruitingin the Guard and Reserve go down, because folks goingoff active duty are one of their best sources of recruit-ment. And it provides a tougher training requirement forthe ARC, because they may be bringing in brand newfolks who have to be trained from ground zero.

I think recruiting and retention is not nearly thepainful issue that it was a few years ago. It�s something

General Fox with five of his predecessors as The Civil Engineer, assembledat Maj Gen Earnest O. Robbins� retirement dinner, May 15. Left to right: MajGen (ret) Clifton �Duke� Wright, Maj Gen (ret) Earnest O. Robbins II, Maj Gen(ret) Eugene A. Lupia, General Fox, Maj Gen (ret) James E. McCarthy, andMaj Gen (ret) Joseph �Bud� Ahearn.

8 SPRING 2003

we�re going to continue to watch, because we need tounderstand the effects of long deployments and multipledeployments. At this point our folks are proud to bewearing the uniform, they�re proud of the missions theysupport and the recognition they get. I think the vastmajority is willing to stick around and support their country.

AFCE: You once served as the Assistant ExecutiveOfficer to The Civil Engineer and observed first-handhow the Director worked with Congressional committeesand functioned in the joint arena with our sister services.How did that experience and your subsequent experiencehelp prepare you for this job? What plans do you have forpartnering with other services, government agencies andprivate industry during your term?

Maj Gen Fox: Yes, I had the opportunity as a youngofficer in the front office under Maj Gen Clifton �Duke�Wright and Maj Gen George �Jud� Ellis to sit in on acouple of hearings. I saw how they skulled and preparedfor hearings and testimony. That observation was a goodjumpstart for me. It told me what to expect.

A few years ago in Europe, when I took over as theUSAFE Engineer, it was on the heels of a five to six yeardrawdown, with no money, no MILCON and no capitalinvestment. Not one single house was renovated for sixyears. It was my good fortune to arrive basically at thesame time as Gen Richard Hawley, who had come fromthe Pentagon, as I had. I had the benefit of working for

General Hawley,Gen Mike Ryanand Gen JohnJumper in themid-1990s. Itraveled back toD.C. with GeneralHawley to workthe �Fix USAFE�program. Weconvinced Con-gress to reinvest inEurope, that wehad completed thedrawdown phaseand would not beclosing any morebases. We hosted acouple of AirForce Board visitsand convincedthem to beginturning the faucetback on. As partof that process, Ihad the opportu-nity to be a

principal witness during hearings before Congress,together with Army Maj Gen Hans Van Winkle, who wasthe U.S. European Command civil engineer, and theNAVEUR Engineer. That was great experience.

I have a long history of active participation with TheSociety of American Military Engineers as a post presi-dent, regional vice president and a national director. Atsome point during my term as The Civil Engineer, I hopeto be nominated to be the president of SAME. That givesus another avenue to interface with the other services, inaddition to the MILCON program.

We are a purple suit organization. We enhance eachother�s capabilities. The Army can�t do its job without us.We help get them to the fight, we help supply them oncethey�re in the fight, we provide close air support forthem, and we provide a lot of their air platform intelli-gence, like early warning systems. We also work closelywith the Navy. Some Navy missions interface with AirForce missions, and I think we do that better than weever have. In the civil engineer arena, we clearly comple-ment each other�s capabilities.

One of the initiatives that I plan to work with theCorps and NAVFAC is construction timelines. We make atremendous effort to build high-quality facilities. We do agood job with cost and with balancing the program,because we know we have to live within a certain numberof dollars. By the time we leave a job site, we�ve met costand quality goals, but did we provide the customer thefacility on the timeline that we promised? I would submitthat we corporately, between us and the Corps andNAVFAC, don�t do a good job of that. One of my thrustswill be to sit down with the Corps and NAVFAC here inWashington, or out in the districts, to work on that.

AFCE: Would you like to say something about yourleadership style?

Maj Gen Fox: As I commented to the CE Chiefs�Group, part of leadership is working hard to make thework environment fun. I think I can get more out ofpeople in the long term if they�re smiling when they comein the door, and they�re tired but smiling when they gohome. I don�t believe in beating on people, and I don�tlike to hear of people beating on people. We need toinspire our folks and make the workplace fun. There areenough external stressors in life � you don�t need to bestressed just coming to work. We shouldn�t make peoplesweat when they come in to give information, becausethat will stymie the process.

I love people. I know that missions are critical, butthere are no missions without people. People are the rootof all success. We talk about quality of life and peopleprograms. I talk about mission and people. In my view,everything is people first. Pump them up, and they�ll takecare of the rest.

Pull Quote to go Here

General Fox examines the nozzle for the prototypeFRE-Fire (First Response Expeditionary Firevehicle) during an orientation visit to AFCESA inJune. Explaining the equipment, which wasdesigned for expeditionary operations, is Mr. MikeMcDonald of the Air Force Research Laboratory atTyndall AFB.


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Having just returned from his fourth round of deployments conductingairfield evaluations in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM,

Maj Anthony Davit shares some of his experiences there as leader of oneof AFCESA�s Airfield Pavement Evaluation, or APE, teams.

Having just returned from his fourth round of deployments conductingairfield evaluations in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM,

Maj Anthony Davit shares some of his experiences there as leader of oneof AFCESA�s Airfield Pavement Evaluation, or APE, teams.

Being an APE Team member hasundoubtedly been the most challeng-ing and exciting assignment of myAir Force career. Our latest round ofairfield evaluations, which began inJanuary 2003, took us to severalbeddown locations slated for use assupport bases in the war against Iraq.It included airfields in Qatar, theKingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iraqitself, where coalition forces ulti-mately conducted combat and airliftmissions.

Our contingency support intheater actually began in October2001, shortly after the shockingevents of September 11th. The AirForce Civil Engineer Support Agencydeployed two APE Teams in supportof OEF. I led the first team and CaptJim Chrisley led the second. Little didwe know that for the next 18 monthsone of us would be deployed virtuallynonstop, heading teams to evaluateairfields throughout the U.S. CentralCommand area of responsibility.Together we have evaluated everyairfield supporting OEF and are wellon our way to doing the same forOIF. We�ve evaluated internationalairports, unprepared landing zones,bomb-damaged airfields and brandnew airfields in various countries,many of which end in �-stan.�

While deployed we worked forthe Combined Forces Air ComponentCommander C7 Civil Engineer staff.According to CFACC priorities, they

conveyed to us the airfield evaluationpriorities and coordinatedintertheater airlift for our team andour automated dynamic cone pen-etrometer, or DCP, testing vehicle.Airlift coordination was by far themost difficult piece of the puzzle,especially traveling with our truck, anoversized pick-up on a Ford F-350chassis with a core drill in the bedthat carries all of our equipment andsupplies. Competing priorities,uncertain aircraft availability, andcomplications like diplomatic clear-ances led to continuous shuffling oftimelines. Each day�s flying missionschedule was released at midnight,and we frequently found ourselveswaiting for days, checking regularlyto see if we had been loaded on amanifest. During the latest trip ourteam flew on 19 C-130s, both U.S.and host nation, a couple of C-17s,and finally a C-5 for the trip home.

Our evaluations were critical,because most military bases outsidethe United States were constructedfor light aircraft only. Many wouldsupport only limited operations oflarge-frame airlift aircraft. Our workdetermined how many aircraft passescould be supported on these marginalairfields, and if needed we madeoperational recommendations, suchas altered take-off and landingpatterns or displaced thresholds, toallow an airfield to support a longer-term mission.

Was it exciting work? You bet. Atthe Iraqi airfields, we flew in justdays after the U.S. Army had securedeach field. Although we felt securewith the Army and Marines guardingthose bases, there is always a puckerfactor when you�re working alone,isolated on a runway in the middle ofa formerly hostile foreign airfield.

In eastern Afghanistan, near thePakistani border, we evaluatedrudimentary landing surfaces in themiddle of nowhere to supportanticipated Army special operationsforces. We encountered some inter-esting construction techniques andmaterials at former Soviet air bases.We faced a constant communicationschallenge to stay in touch with the C7staff and AFCESA and to transmit

(Above) TSgt John Boyd, Maj AnthonyDavit and SSgt Dan Torres evaluate anunpaved airfield in Afghanistan (Top)Maj Anthony Davit uses the automateddynamic cone penetrometer forpavement tests at a base in the Kingdomof Saudi Arabia. (HQ AFCESA photos)

10 SPRING 2003

our classified reports to those whowere anxiously awaiting them.

Was it a grueling assignment attimes? Sure. The fine, powdery soiland dust storms in the region madefor difficult working conditions atsome locations. At Tallil Air Base,Iraq, we conducted the evaluation inMOPP gear in extreme heat. Since9/11, we have staged out of bare basesunder some pretty primitive condi-tions, sleeping on mosquito-netted

Knowing that the work we do isabsolutely critical to the decisionmakers determining beddownlocations and operational priorities.The input I received from numerouswing and group commanders was,�The success of operations at thislocation depends on your findingsand the information you give us.�

Incorporating new technologiesinto our kit bag is always gratifying.At another location in Iraq, we usedglobal positioning system equipmentfor the first time to define theboundaries of the runway, taxiwaysand ramps. We also employed ourexpertise to advise RED HORSEengineers who were involved inconstructing runway and rampprojects at several locations in theater.Recommendations regarding im-proved material handling and materialquality control can make all thedifference in the success of a pave-ments project.

Sometimes we get to exercise ourregular civil engineering skills, as well.Our team members frequently assistedthe C7 staff and deployed engineers atvarious locations. On this most recenttrip, the C7 staff needed an officer tohelp the wing commander at alocation in Saudi Arabia do beddownplanning. Since our team was awaitingairlift flow for our equipment, I dustedoff my planning skills and helped thewing commander do preliminarylayout for the 4,000-person base campuntil the Prime BEEF team officer-in-charge arrived.

Last but not least, we�ve had theopportunity to meet some fascinatingand extraordinarily dedicated peoplewho, like us, were exerting their bestefforts to accomplish the Air Forcemission. At two different locations Imet host nation engineering officerswho had studied at the Air ForceInstitute of Technology and tookspecial interest in the work we weredoing.

Pavement evaluations:The road ahead

There are many units today thatperform different levels of airfield

pavement evaluations. These includeSpecial Tactics Squadrons, GlobalAssessment Teams, ContingencyResponse Groups and REDHORSE. The greatest concernsabout airfield pavement evaluationsthat came to light as a result of OEFand OIF involve training of thoseteams and clarification of the level ofevaluations that they can perform.

AFCESA Engineering TechnicalLetter 02-19 outlines the require-ments to become certified incontingency airfield pavementevaluation and contains most of theinformation necessary to do thedifferent levels of evaluation. Thisleaves the question of which organi-zation will perform what level ofevaluation. The three types ofevaluations, Expedient (100 passes ofa C-17), Sustainment (5,000 passes)and Permanent (over 50,000 passes),require different levels of field testing.Classification of evaluation is drivenby the mission and time allotted forfield work and analysis. WhileExpedient evaluations requireminimal testing, Sustainment andPermanent evaluations requireextensive testing with specializedequipment that only AFCESA owns.

Pavement evaluations and thecalculated data should be comparable.Publishing long-term PavementClassification Numbers based on twoor three DCP tests gives missionplanners and operators an inaccuratepicture of an airfield�s missioncapability. Having multiple teams

cots in stuffy hangars and eating ourshare of MREs with the earliestdeployed contingents. We�ve longsince learned to carry a several-daysupply of water and MREs in ourtruck. When you�re in remote areas onthe front lines, if you�re not carrying itwith you, you�re not eating or drink-ing it. We�ve had to maintain ourvehicle and equipment on the fly asbest we could. We kept things greasedup, crossed our fingers, and gotcreative when necessary.

What keeps us motivated?

(Top) Pavement team members deployed tosupport Operation ENDURING FREEDOM in Oct. 2001were (left to right) MSgt Scott Melton, MajAnthony Davit, TSgt Jody Root, TSgt JoelJones, Capt James Chrisley and MSgt StevenRussell. (Above) Local children are fascinatedwith Maj Davit�s laptop computer.

Team members dressed to blend in withthe local population for their own safetywhile conducting pavement evaluationsin Central Asia.


evaluating the same airfield onlyclouds the picture even further. HQAFCESA is working this issue in theAir Force and with other services andwill develop guidance and formalizedtraining for contingency airfieldpavement evaluators.

An outstanding team,sterling support

It has been an exciting, challeng-ing and rewarding time for theAFCESA APE teams. The teammembers who have deployed over the

last 18 months would like to thank all ofthe deployed CE units that adopted usalong the way and provided support tous while we performed our globalmission.

As I prepare to leave AFCESA formy next assignment, I would like toexpress my admiration and thanks to theAPE team members with whom I haveserved for the past two and a half years.They have conducted the mission inoutstanding fashion and are true AirForce heroes in my eyes. I extend myappreciation to Capt Jim Chrisley, MSgt(ret) Scott Melton, MSgt (ret) JerrySpivey, TSgt John Boyd, TSgt Jody Root,MSgt Steve Russell, TSgt Joel Jones, SSgtDan Torres, SSgt Greg Welch and SSgtJason Whitman. I also want to thank ourhome station AFCESA pavements staff,who provided sterling support to each ofour deployments: Mr. Jim Greene, Mr.Dick Smith, Dr. Randy Brown and MSgtVince Thomas.

If you are interested in becoming amember of this elite team, please feelfree to call anyone in the HQ AFCESApavement evaluation section at DSN523-6340.

Maj Tony Davit is formerly the AirfieldPavements Evaluation Section chief atHQ AFCESA, Tyndall AFB, FL. He is nowthe Operations Flight chief for the 56thCivil Engineer Squadron, Luke AFB, AZ.

APE Teams Perform a Specialized, Global MissionAirfield pavement evaluation

teams have a unique mission in theAir Force, performing detailedairfield pavement structural evalua-tions at both peacetime andcontingency locations. The AFCESAAPE Teams are responsible for allcontingency and peacetime structuralpavement evaluations at 180 AirForce facilities worldwide. Addition-ally, the teams perform runwayfriction characteristics surveys,monitor pavement condition inspec-tions, perform pavement research,and develop criteria, standards andpolicy.

The AFCESA Airfield PavementsEvaluation Section is composed oftwo Air Force officers, two senior

NCOs, four junior NCOs, one AirForce civilian and two contractors.The section was originally formed in1973 and has been performing itsspecialized mission for 30 years.

Methodology differs slightlybetween contingency and peacetimeevaluations. During contingencyoperations, teams employ variousevaluation tools, including automatedand manual dynamic cone penetrom-eters, electronic cone penetrometersand coring equipment. The datacollected is fed into the AirfieldPavement Evaluation softwaredeveloped by the U.S. Army Engi-neering Research and DevelopmentCenter at Vicksburg, MS, also knownas the Waterways Experiment Station.

During peacetime evaluations anadditional piece of equipment, aDynatest 8081 heavy weightdeflectomter, is employed. The HWDoutput is loaded into the LayeredElastic Evaluation Program softwaredeveloped by WES. These tools,coupled with each team�s experienceand technical expertise, determine anairfield�s long-term capabilities.Those capabilities are published in adetailed Airfield Pavement Evaluationreport as Allowable Gross Loads andPCNs for each airfield feature.Airfield drawings, visual surfacesurvey data, testing methods andassumptions, and a detailed listing ofphysical properties of each airfieldfeature are also included.

(Above and inset) MSgt Scott Melton and SSgt Greg Welch patch a core hole on anairfield as interested locals observe. Everywhere the team went, the local populacewas curious about their work.

12 SPRING 2003

In a contingency environment, aCE unit must do more with less,come up with creative solutions tocomplex problems, and completecritical projects on condensedtimelines. The 320th ExpeditionaryCivil Engineer Squadron has met thechallenges at their deployed locationin Southwest Asia and locationsdownrange, and learned to tame thebeast known as contingency engineer-ing. Here are their stories �

Home, Home, on theDownrange

Members of the 320th ECESforward deployed from the 320th AirExpeditionary Wing to Kandahar AirBase, Afghanistan, in January torebuild a tent city there known as AirForce Village. The U.S. Army isresponsible for overall base operatingsupport at Kandahar, but the AirForce provides fire protection andoccasional assistance for specificprojects.

�We sent a 20-man team toKandahar to build up that area tomeet bare base standards,� saidSMSgt John Little, 320th ECESChief Enlisted Manager. The taskrequired the CE team to build fivehardback tents and a storage area formedical supplies. They also rebuiltthe floor of the medical tent andrelocated 16 TEMPER tents.

�It was a challenging task. Wehad to relocate the tents in a system-atic order,� Sergeant Little said. �Ourelectricians had to access the con-glomeration of electrical cables strungthroughout the site. They had tofigure out how to simultaneouslypower two Air Force sites with onlyenough assets for one.�

The crew worked to keep poweroutages to a minimum because thespecial operations, pararescue andmedical missions couldn�t be inter-

rupted. �Each mission had to getpermission from its higher headquar-ters to stand down so we could makethe final move to their new facilities,�Sergeant Little said. �They receivedauthorization from higher headquar-ters to shut down operations for 48hours to get moved. Our guysworked two 18-hour days to get themrelocated and powered back up.�

Sergeant Little said CE alsoinstalled 1,500 feet of perimeter fenceand much needed shower and latrinetrailers. �When we got there, (thepeople assigned to Kandahar) weretaking three-minute combat showersand using buckets to shave and brushtheir teeth,� he said. �When we weredone they had modern amenities andthe capability to take a 10-minuteshower.�

Sergeant Little said his crewwasn�t alone in the build up ofKandahar. All permanent partypersonnel had a hand in the move. �I

Expeditionary civil engineers handle whatever comes their way

was especially impressed by theKandahar firefighters who stepped upto assist with the relocation. Weworked with Army engineers and theCE guys assigned to Kandahar totake care of things,� he said. �Wecame together as a team.�

That teamwork extended beyondKandahar to Bagram AB, Afghani-stan, where members of the 320thECES forward deployed to an areathat is still littered with land mines,mortar attacks, and stray bullets torepair and maintain environmentalcontrol units. �We�ve sent teams thereon various occasions to support andmaintain the ECUs,� Sergeant Littlesaid. �We�ve also brought units backhere to work on them.�

The sergeant said that regardlessof the mission, his troops are alwaysready to step up and face the chal-lenge. �They jump at the chance togo (downrange),� he said. �It�s anoutstanding experience for them to

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SrA Marco Baeira, 320th ECES, uses a megohmmeter to check for breakdown withina high-voltage step-down transformer (Photos by SSgt Pamela Smith)


see other portions of the Air Forcemission.�

This deployment has givenmembers an opportunity to work ontheir war/contingency skills and learnto think on their feet. �They have tothink ahead,� Sergeant Little said.�They have to be prepared becausethey can�t run down the street to Wal-Mart and buy construction tools theymay need. This prepares them for thefuture and shows them what expedi-tionary is all about.�

And Force Protection for AllBack at the 320th AEW, the

320th ECES Explosive OrdnanceDisposal Flight has been workinghard to ensure the safety of 320thAEW personnel and assets.

�Our job is twofold,� said MSgtMitchell Bolin, 320th EOD superin-tendent. �We�re assigned here foraircraft support and force protection.We�ve got the capability to protectpeople and the environment fromweapons of mass destruction. Peopleassume we�re just a bomb squad, butwe do more than that.�

Sergeant Bolin said the flight�sbiggest challenge to date has beeneducating host nation authorities on320th AEW force protection needs.�We had a hard time convincingthem of our need for barricades andthe search pit,� he said. �But throughmultiple briefings and demonstrationswe were able to convince them.� Thesearch pit issue has been a majorforce protection concern sinceopening the base a couple years ago.

While the day-to-day threat hereis minimal, EOD stays busy withtraining and is vigilant about theircommitment to protecting the basepopulace. �We do hands-on trainingtwice a week on weapon systems thatour government knows to be in Iraqand Afghanistan,� he said, addingthat this type of training is pricelessfor his young troops and unique todeployment during wartime.

We�ve got the PowerTo the average person, accessing

power is as simple as flipping a

switch. Not the case if you work forthe 320th ECES Power Productionsection. Then it becomes a little morecomplicated.

This nine-person shop is respon-sible for setting up, producing andmaintaining electrical power genera-tion throughout the 320th AEW. Theshop is additionally tasked withmaintaining equipment downrange.

�The power we supply is madeup of 10 separate configurations thatenable the base populous to accessvoltages from 120 all the way up to4,160 volts with either 50 or60 cycles, depending on theuser�s requirement,� said TSgtJohn Lagassey, NCOIC ofPower Pro. �We�re providingapproximately 95 percent ofthe power to this installation.�

�Since the arrival of thenew rotation, which began inearly November, outages havedramatically decreased,� saidEric Busse, site supervisor anda civilian contractor fromReadiness ManagementSupport, L.C. �Prior toNovember, there were severalpower outages per month, sowe implemented new mainte-nance programs that drastically cutthe number of outages. Our mainte-nance program consists of testingeverything from mechanical toelectrical components such as diodesand step down transformers.�

Contractor and Air Forcepersonnel in the section strive for theutmost reliability. �Most people don�tunderstand that Harvest Falcon (barebase) generators were not designed,nor were they packaged, with theintention of being a long-termprimary source of power,� SergeantLagassey said. As most maintainersof technical fields know, even with allof the preventive measures in place,outages are a reality that comes withthe job.�

The base�s unique power con-figuration gives airmen in the shop awealth of hands-on experience and anarray of challenges to meet customers�power requirements. �One of the

biggest advantages for airmen here isfrequent interaction with the cus-tomer from an operationalstandpoint,� said Lagassey, �ratherthan the readiness one they�reaccustomed to at their home sta-tions.�

Fire in the BoxThe 320th ECES Fire Protection

Flight frequently participates in jointexercises with firefighters from thehost nation military and internationalairport fire department. �During

these exercises the teams have toovercome language barriers, generaloperational philosophies and developtrust in each other�s abilities,� saidCMSgt George Herrington, base firechief.

The group of approximately 30firefighters trains at a local burn pitwhere they use a group of trailers,which simulate a C-130 Hercules,and a mock wheel and wing area. Atthe conclusion of each exercise, thegroup is briefed by their respectivesupervisors on how well they did andon areas of improvement. �This is aonce-in-a-lifetime experience for theseairmen,� said Lt Col Rodney Croslen,320th ECES commander, who oftenaccompanies the fire department forthe joint exercises.

Though the main objective ofeach department is similar, to put outthe fire, the specifics of how they doit often vary. Despite differing

SrA David Dottavio (left) and TSgt GregoryTesch, both of the 320th ECES, put a tent frametogether as they prepare to extend the basedining facility Feb. 21.


14 SPRING 2003

philosophies, leaders from all thedepartments say the joint trainingexercises are successful and should bemaintained.

�It�s important to coordinatewith all of the agencies, understandeach other, and work together,� saidYahya Alsiyabi, chief fire officer atthe international airport. �We are allhere working together for the safetyof the airport.�

CE Leads the WayMembers of the 320th ECES

have been hard at work building uptent city as the 320th AEW preparesto expand. �One of our biggestprojects has been preparing aircrewtrailers for incoming personnel,� saidTSgt Michael Scaife, 320th ECESEngineering Flight chief.

Thirty-six, six-person livingtrailers, were constructed to houseadditional aircrew members assignedto the 320th AEW. Three new latrinesand a laundry facility were also set upin that area. Project manager SSgtJason O�Hare came to be known as�trailer man.�

�Jason became the trailer expert,�said Sergeant Scaife. That includedplanning, designing, inspecting andclosing out. �This has been a chal-lenging, yet rewarding, experience,�said Sergeant O�Hare. �It�s amazingto look around and realize you had apart in changing the landscape of thebase.�

The CE squadron focused on avariety of other projects as well, suchas placing concrete personnel bunkersthroughout the base and working torelocate the vehicle search pit forfurther increased force protectionposture.

�We just off-loaded 165 forceprotection barriers,� said SMSgtHarold Hollis, chief of 320th ECESOperations Flight. �We�re clearingthe fence line of obstructions in orderto place the barriers; in turn thebarriers aid in providing additionalsecurity for the camp.�

Members of the Structures shopalso built a �sun screen� for theexpeditionary medical squadron to

use over its CAT scan room in orderto redirect the sun in hopes ofalleviating excessive overheating inthe facility.

�If the CAT scan machine getstoo hot, it shuts down,� SergeantHollis said. �Then (the med techs)have to restart the process from thebeginning.� These medical assets arecritical since our deployed location isthe hub for all medical support andevacuation of patients returning fromthe front lines.

The challenges never cease, butthat is the nature of contingencyengineering. Projects and tasks arealways in a state of flux. The 320thECES has had to be flexible to meetthem, and has done so magnificently.

�The praise for our unit does notcome from within but from thosewho have seen and benefited from thetireless efforts of our squadron,� saidColonel Croslen. �There is a highstandard upon which we prideourselves, and it has been a trulyrewarding tour to witness thebottomless potential of our troopsfully realized.�

Meeting the Challenge cont�d

F or most, Christmas

Day brings festivities,

presents and feasting.

What it brought the

384th Expeditionary

Civil Engineer Squadron,

however, was a tasking

unlike any they�d had

before.

SSgt Virgil Deaton, 320th ECES, uses zipties to join two pieces of camouflagenetting together. Sergeant Deaton wascovering the �Sun Screen� his shopbuilt and set up over the CAT ScanComplex near the 320th ExpeditionaryMedical Squadron.

Photos show the 384th ECES team atwork breaking rock in order to clearenough land to build a parking rampto expand the flying mission at theirforward deployed location. (Photoscourtesy 384th ECES)


Keeping the Show on the RoadPrime BEEF Team Digs Expedient Ramp Project

The 384th ECES had worked 24/7 from Dec. 25 toFeb. 27 to complete the mammoth project, saving $5million in construction costs in the process. Lt ColPatrick Smith, 384th ECES commander, had crusaded forthe project to finish on schedule, and at 4 p.m. on Feb. 28the last of the asphalt was laid.

CE changed the entire scope of the 384th AirExpeditionary Wing�s capabilities by adding 50 percentmore available parking space to accommodate the base�sincrease in aircraft. This gave the wing flexibility to bringin different missions and expand the current one.

In just two months, the 384th ECES Prime BEEFteam rose to the challenge of this awesome task, savingboth time and money while providing agile combatsupport. This is just one way CE personnel have lived upto the 384th AEW motto: �Keeping the show on theroad.�

1Lt Charles Hassell was the SABER chief for the 60th CES,Travis AFB, CA, prior to this deployment. He is now astudent at the Air Force Institute of Technology.

The tasking was to construct a 385,000-square-foot expeditionary aircraft parking rampat a forward operating location by a must-havecompletion date of Feb. 28. The ramp wasneeded to support Operation ENDURING FREE-

DOM and the inevitable commencement of Operation IRAQI

FREEDOM. We needed a quick method for building it.The task itself seemed simple � we had 66 days to

clear enough land then build a 228 by 1,688-foot asphaltramp that would support the weight of the aircraft. Thechallenge was that 80 percent of the area to be excavatedwas not soft soil � it was solid rock. Most of the siteneeded to be excavated down 6 to 7 feet, but some areasneeded as much as 12 feet.

The Heavy Equipment Shop, led by TSgt LukeLansing, dove into the excavation with joy normallyassociated with children opening Christmas presents. Thesix-person shop used excavators, bulldozers, front-endloaders and dump trucks to take on the daunting task.About a week into the project however, it became evidentthat it was going to take a combined effort and moreequipment to finish on time.

Capt Corey Norcross and SMSgt James Ferrell werein charge of the excavation phase of the project. Theyrequested every shop in the 384th ECES offer uptroops to help run dump trucks so that SergeantLansing and his crew could concentrate onworking the heavy machinery. They also broughtin help from U.S. Navy Seabees stationed nearbyand contracted help from United Gulf Asphalt.Their excellent leadership and the combined effortsof contractor, Navy and 384th ECES troops moved90,000 cubic meters of rock and sand and expended30,000 man-hours of labor.

MSgt Kevin Hamilton and I directed the contractportion of the expedient ramp project. It was brokeninto four phases, each about 228 by 400 feet. Asexcavation was completed in each phase, we directedthe contractor to lay 18 inches of select fill and pave theasphalt layer. The first and second phases were com-pleted mere hours before the planes scheduled to parkon them arrived.

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16 SPRING 2003

The buzz on Tallil Air Base insouthern Iraq is everyone guessingwhen they are going home. But theboom on base is coming from onejob that won�t be done for another 10years.

Every few hours at Tallil AB anexplosion echoes across the desert.Newcomers to this key base nearAn Nasiriyah, Iraq, look startled. Theveterans know it�s just the explosiveordnance disposal crews at workclearing old munitions.

�This is probably the worst placethat I�ve seen in 20 years for doingthis job,� said MSgt Mike Hague, amember of the Airborne REDHORSE EOD team. And he�s been tosome littered war zones, including allover Iraq as a U.N. inspector and inVietnam on an MIA-POW mission.

The unexploded ordnance at Tallilis a mess created during the first GulfWar. The air base is located in theformer southern no-fly zone, meaningthat it�s been mostly abandoned forthe past 12 years.

Tallil airmen are enjoying aremarkable turn for the better as keysquadrons and experts work aroundthe clock to improve living conditionsthere.

In what has left many who haveexperienced previous bare basedeployments and the normal pace ofprogress shaking their heads, Tallilrecently surged ahead of the normwith new furniture, more variety infood, laundry facilities, movies andvideo games in a morale tent, and anew 10-bed hospital.

One improvement that might notbe so evident but was critical in

Buzz and BoomBuzz and BoomBuzz and BoomBuzz and BoomBuzz and Boom�This air campaign we didn�t

drop any ordnance here. We knew itwould be a logistical base,� saidSergeant Hague. But 12 years ago,U.S. bombing scattered much of theIraqi weapons stockpile, and theIraqis never bothered to clean upthe unexploded ordnance.

Sergeant Hague�s six-man EODteam divided the base into 200square meter sectors. Then theyspent three days on all-terrainvehicles inspecting each sector,marking the map when they locatedUXOs. Their goal was to make thebase safe for a burgeoning popula-tion of U.S. troops.

After several weeks, they haddestroyed most of the 500 UXOsthey marked on the map. This wasdone by setting off C-4 explosivecharges, sheltered by sandbags anddirt, next to the old ordnance. Butthe base will not be clear of UXOsfor another 10 years, according toSergeant Hague, because there is noeasy way to get to buried munitions.

Civil engineers help stand up a captured Iraqi air baseU.S. forces used Tallil Air Base in southern Iraq as a logistics hub for coalition forces

engaged in combat operations and to funnel humanitarian supplies.CEs helped bring the airfield up to operational standards.

�It�s impossible to find every-thing because of trash,� said SergeantHague. Mine detectors are fooled byall the old car parts, tin cans andother refuse ground up in the soilover many years. �We can�t detect thedifference between trash and UXOs.�

Instead, EOD teams will be oncall whenever any new constructionproject requires digging. As oldmunitions are dug up, they willdispose of them.

Sergeant Hague sees his work aspart of helping Iraq enjoy a betterfuture. �This is not just for our ownsafety. This is going to be turnedback over to the Iraqi people whenwe leave,� he said. (Maj Jon Ander-son, CFACC/PA Forward, and MSgtMike Hague, HQ ACC/CEX)

enabling so many others was Tallil�snew potable water plant and wastewa-ter disposal system. Taking waterfrom a nearby Euphrates River canaland piping it three miles to the basefor treatment through six reverse-osmosis purifiers was a big job forthe 407th Expeditionary CivilEngineer Squadron.

�It took about three days out inthe sun laying 20-foot lengths of4-inch pipe, but now we producealmost 40,000 gallons of water eachday to help in food prep and cleanupfor the Air Force dining tent, as wellas unlimited laundry and showers for

No More Bare BaseNo More Bare BaseNo More Bare BaseNo More Bare BaseNo More Bare Base

MSgt Mike Hague inspects a Soviet-style,500-pound bomb to verify type filler andfuzing prior to preparing the ordnancefor disposal by detonation at Tallil AB,Iraq. (Photo courtesy HQ ACC/CEX)

SSgt Mike Sutton and TSgt Les Duncan,both of the 407th ECES, work the �HoneyWagon� detail at Tallil AB that trucks outall latrine waste from Air Force tent city.(Photo by Maj Jon Anderson)

16 SPRING 2003


On March 27, 2003, the first Air Force civilengineer squadron ever assigned to the country of Iraq,the 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineers, landed at TallilAir Base. The team initially consisted of 28 engineers,19 firefighters and small explosive ordnance disposaland readiness teams.

Among other firsts, the Air Force team was jointlyassigned with 168 British Royal Army Engineerscommanded by Maj John White of the 34 Field Squad-ron (Air Support). Their initial joint tasking was theimmediate beddown and support of A-10 operations toallow forward projection of air powerto previously unreachable northernIraqi targets. Within four hours afterthe team was on the ground, anaircraft parking apron was set up witha grounding grid to support theweapons-laden A-10s.

A 200,000-gallon hot pit refuelingstation was designed by the team andjointly built by Air Force and Britishengineers. The effort not only allowedbeddown of a squadron of A-10swithin three days, but alsoprovided a forward refueling

Beddown at a Bare BaseBeddown at a Bare BaseBeddown at a Bare BaseBeddown at a Bare BaseBeddown at a Bare Basepoint for other aircraft coming from southern bases.

Both teams complemented each other in manyrespects. The British Royal Engineers came with morethan 100 pieces of heavy construction equipment. TheAir Force engineers were a highly skilled team withinherent knowledge of bare base design requirements.To make up for the Air Force�s lack of equipment, 24-hour operations were immediately implemented usingboth services as operators.

Their list of accomplishments includes repair of twoconcrete runways, installation of a complete airfield

lighting system, three separate fuelfarms, a munitions storage area,more than 164 billeting tents, anelectrical power plant complete withdistribution system, shower andlatrine facilities and a dining facility.These achievements and severalheavy construction projects were allcompleted within 35 days ofdeployment. (Capt Karson Sand-man, 27th CES, Cannon AFB, NM.Captain Sandman was commander

of the 407th ECES on thisdeployment.)

McLaury�s lift station pumpingsystem design removes all soapyrunoff to an evaporation lagoon northof the BX, another critical piece inimproving Tallil�s quality of life.

Power also played an importantpart in making base improvementspossible. Six enormous air-transport-able generators have been linkedtogether for enough power to light acity of 5,000, according to MajRichard Reid, 407th ECES.

�Each one just rolls right intoand off a C-130, making it easy for usto set up Tallil�s plant,� said MajorReid. He added that while most

people don�t care about the technicaldetails, they do appreciate the airconditioning and laundry machinesthat finally became available with basepower, as well as elimination constantgenerator roar around living andwork spaces.

Other improvements coming toTallil this summer are full AFRTS TVand radio service and a fitness centertent with new equipment. (Maj JonAnderson, CFACC/PA Forward)

us,� said TSgt Les Duncan, 407thECES.

However, it�s not enough just toprovide water; shower and washwater runoff, as well as the roughly40 gallons of water from each washload, needs to be pumped out. Thatwas no problem for Maj KimMcLaury, 407th ECES, who designswater systems for towns and subdivi-sions back home.

�As an Air Guardsman, I havecivilian expertise I bring to whatevermission I�m assigned,� said MajorMcLaury, adding, �It sure doesn�thurt that it�s in water systems.� Major

The 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineers, the first Air Force civil engineer squadron ever assigned to the country of Iraq, posesat Tallil Air Base in front of one of Saddam Hussein�s many portraits.


18 SPRING 2003

TSgt Anthony Blackmon and SrA Nathan Hower from the 321stECES and SrA Jeffrey Wasik and MSgt Joseph Cross from the384th ECES. We were tasked to support the I Marine Expedi-tionary Force�s Operation RESTORE IRAQI OIL for 30 days. Ourmission was to clear a path to 700 oil wellheads in Iraq�sRumaylah, Az Zubayr and Safwan oilfields, allowing contractorsto close and log their status, and to clear 14 gas oil separationplants, or GOSPs, of unexploded ordnance and improvisedexplosive devices.

Getting EOD in place, trained and operating was para-mount. Teams from Halliburton (tasked with well shut downs),Kellogg Brown & Root (tasked with GOSP shut downs), Boots& Coots International Well Control (oil well fire suppressionteams/well shutdown teams) and the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers (mapping of wells) would be waiting in the wings togo in and do their job as we cleared each location. This high-profile mission required daily briefs to Vice President DickCheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and NationalSecurity Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice.

Preparation is everythingWe worked in two-man EOD teams accompanied by an oil

specialist and USACE representative. The teams carefullystudied diagrams of the GOSPs. All GOSPs aren�t designed thesame, so we had to be familiar with the identifying features ofoil manifolds, pump houses and separators.

In layman�s terms, the oil wells pump the oil, which is thenpiped to the GOSPs. Once there, it is separated into its differentcomponents: gas, oil and water. Iraq�s oil wellheads are not thetype everyone is familiar with, like those in Texas and Kuwaitwith pumps and tall towers. Iraq�s oil fields are under so muchpressure that pumping is not necessary, hence their 6- to 10-footwellheads. When the pressure in them is low, they are injectedwith water to help increase the pressure.

A booby-trapped SA-7 Surface-to-Air missile had alreadybeen found in the area, and we were briefed to be prepared togather necessary information off of them if encountered. Wewere also given enemy prisoner of war rules of engagementcards to study.

Close encountersClearing wells where uncontrolled fires were burning was

especially challenging. Working within 50-75 feet of the fire toprepare a safe path for firefighters, we used heat-resistant hoodsto protect our faces and carried sheet metal shields to protectourselves from the heat. Fire suppression teams needed to beable to get close to the burning wells so they could see where onthe wellhead the fire was burning. Contractors refer to wellheadsas �Christmas trees.� If it�s burning at the top of the Christmastree it will be easy to repair after the fire is out, but if it�sburning at the bottom it will require a lot more equipment tocap off the tree. They also needed to be able to see if a particularvalve was accessible to shut down flow to the GOSPs.

On March 23 the first sabotaged wellhead was identified.Performing long-range reconnaissance, firing wire was identi-fied coming from behind a berm and going into the ground at

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There are more than

1,500 oil wells in Iraq, many of

them idle due to war damage

and/or shortages of spare

parts and modern technol-

ogy. U.S. military planners want

to use the output from those

wells to help finance the

country�s rebuilding. But be-

fore contractors could go in

and get the oil flowing again, it

was up to a joint team of Navy

and Air Force explosive ord-

nance disposal experts to

clear any booby traps left by

fleeing Iraqi soldiers.

As Operation IraqiFreedom began,coalition forces

moved quickly to capture thecountry�s major oilfields andprevent their destruction.Retreating Iraqi forces leftbehind a handful of oil wellfires and, of greater concern,explosive devices such as anti-personnel and anti-tank mines.

The request for four AirForce EOD volunteers cameMarch 17 from the CENTAFC7 staff at Prince Sultan AirBase. Our team was assembledquickly, and, with assistancefrom the 386th ExpeditionaryCivil Engineer Squadron EODFlight, joined a convoy to astaging area with our Navycounterparts March 21.

The Air Force members ofthis 14-man EOD team were

Explosiveordnancedisposal expertsclear the way forOperationRESTORE IRAQI OIL

Explosiveordnancedisposal expertsclear the way forOperationRESTORE IRAQI OIL


the wellhead. A few concrete barriers around the area ofthe tree had been knocked down as well. Upon closerexamination, we could see striation marks of a detonationon the ground and along the lower portion of the well-head. The lower part of the wellhead pipe had grossdamage where an explosive charge had been placed anddetonated, but, due to incompetent charge placement, itdid not cause the well to break and leak. Further investi-gation of the area revealed remnants of a time fuse and asandbag that was charred. The time fuse was probably setwith an incendiary device attached, intended to blow thewellhead. That would spray oil mist into the air thatwould be ignited by the incendiary device.

The area was cleared of any secondary devices andCombat Camera captured photographic evidence of thescene. The wires were collected for future intel, and thecontractors assessed the damage and ensured the well wasclosed. This setup was found at more than one wellhead.One team also found a logbook that, with the help of aninterpreter, we determined contained entries describingexplosive charges being set on wellheads.

We found two wellheads that were mined withValmara 69s that protected VS 1.6 anti-tank mines.Another wellhead was mined with PMN 9 mines, someof which still had the safety pins in them. All of the mineswere completely exposed. At one location we could stillsee the tire tracks, and in some spots footprints, fromwhen the mines were placed.

Numerous bunkers were found throughout the area,as well, along with weapons caches. One bunker con-tained 13 OG-9 and 20 PG-9 rocket-propelled grenades.An M42 submunition field was found and marked forEOD contractors coming later. We discovered one cachecontaining over 500 120mm mortars placed in whatappeared to be a paramilitary training camp. The cachehad HE, Illum and WP rounds, numerous small arms andlarge amounts of propellant. A second area includedchemical gear and atropine.

We often had to provide our own immediate areasecurity, which we rotated to give teams breaks. One day,our rear security guard called for additional bodies as acar screamed up the road behind us. Three of us spreadacross the road and assumed a ready position while MSgtCross stopped the vehicle and exited five Iraqi mendressed in civilian clothes. The individuals were separatedfrom the vehicle and searched, while the vehicle wascleared of explosive devices. We obtained the individuals�identification and provided them with food and water.The United Kingdom Quick Response Force wascontacted to take the men, who turned out to be Iraqideserters, into custody.

Our teams were also subject to surprise encounterswith Iraqi citizens. One such encounter happened April11 at the Az Zubayr oilfield, where local citizens weresiphoning and looting fuel at a large civilian fuel storagearea. In the minute or two we spent in the area, the

crowd grew to over 100 people, who began to argue louder andlouder over the status of the fuel. A man claiming to be theowner of the facility approached our vehicle, demanding toknow why looters were being allowed to steal his fuel. Wedirected him to U.K. soldiers at the site and explained that wehad other responsibilities.

Another team was also overwhelmed in Az Zubayr when,during the search for wells (some of which were unexpectedlyclose to people�s houses), a large crowd formed around theirHumvee and the contractor�s vehicle. All the crowd wanted wasthe water and food they had become accustomed to expectingfrom every American convoy they saw via humanitarian leaflets.The locals climbed in the back of the open contractor pickuptruck and grabbed whatever they could. Our saving grace camewhen one of the locals grabbed a case of soda, which brokeopen sending spewing cans everywhere. That caused a free-for-all, leaving room for the team to escape the area. We learned avaluable lesson about keeping contents of the cargo hold con-cealed.

Oil�s well that ends wellOverall the mission was successful and was completed five

days ahead of schedule. It is estimated that the sale of oil fromthose oil fields will surpass $27 million a day for the Iraqigovernment and its people.

On our part, fifty-two unknown wells were located, andevidence of firing systems used to initiate explosive charges atoil wellheads was collected. More than 5,000 ordnance itemsranging from M42 submunitions to 155mm projectiles and oldSoviet 122mm rockets were found and destroyed. Threeminefields were located, with some of the mines being de-stroyed. Two dud-fired U.S. TOW 2 missileswere found on one of the many battlefields,and one U.K. unmanned aerial vehiclewas found and recovered for U.K. forces.This was a truly joint service EODeffort � one that will begin therebuilding of a country for the freedIraqi people.

MSgt Joseph Cross was chief ofthe 384th ECES EOD Flight, andTSgt Anthony Blackmon was the321st ECES EOD Flight NCOIC.

Explosive ordnancedisposal craftsmanMSgt Joe Crossprepares to rope off asafe area near anuncontrolled naturalgas fire in theRumaylah Oil Fieldin southern Iraq.(Left) Sergeant Crossinches closer to thefire as he clears apath for firefighters toapproach andextinguish it. (U.S.Army photo by SpcJames P. Johnson)


20 SPRING 2003

It was a warm day in early December at our forward-deployedlocation in Southwest Asia, and soon to get very hot, when ColGregory Augst, 380th Air Expeditionary Wing commander, said tous, �We need five million gallons of jet fuel on base.� To which wereplied, �Huh?� With about a 600,000-gallon capacity currently onhand, we (the 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer and Expedition-ary Logistics Readiness Squadrons) were a little stunned by themagnitude of what we were being asked to provide. But, never onesto shy away from a challenge, we got to work.

The first question was where to site it. That many fuel bladderstakes up a lot of real estate. There was plenty of property around,but most locations were not within a reasonable distance to theflightline and would require multiple taxiway and road crossings.After considering risk assessments, safety analyses and unique hostnation challenges associated with each site, we settled on a parcel ofland next to the ramp.

Wind, sand and a site planAhhh � Christmas in the desert � the sun, the sand, the wind.

Did I mention wind? During the construction phase of the projectthere were more than 10 days of recorded weather delaysdue to high wind and sand storms. What more could youask for? How about a huge horizontal project for Christ-mas Day? This was an effort not normally taken on byPrime BEEF troops, but with the NCO leadership andexperience we had on hand, it was a challenge we weremore than capable of tackling.

Our engineer assistants quickly jumped at the chanceto spend some quality time with their new GPS surveyingequipment. Under the leadership of TSgt Brian Welch, theEAs developed a massive topographic database and,working with his pavements and equipment counterpartTSgt Stevie Wells, had a site plan done in a couple days.

We broke ground Dec. 25, en route to excavating andgrading over 45,000 square meters. In some areas we hadcut elevations over 2 meters, moving altogether about25,000 cubic meters of material.

In hindsight, bringing the area to grade was the easypart. Next we had to build the berms to hold the fuelbladders and liners. The sand in this part of the world is too

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Prime BEEF Team Builds a Pipeline to Freedom

soft and non-compactable to make berms from,so we used lined wire basket barriers. How-ever, there weren�t enough commerciallyavailable in theater to even put a dent in ourrequirement, and delivery from a supplierwould take six weeks or more. That kind oftime was a luxury we did not have, so weturned to Kuwait Dynamics Ltd., our JobOrder Contract (JOC) contractor, for help. Thecontractor fabricated them on site, producingjust over a mile of barriers that we filled withmore than 7,000 metric tons of soil.

With our tight timeline, we could notwait for the entire area to be prepared beforethe liners and bladders went in. So, as wefinished each containment cell, the 380thELRS petroleum, oil and lubricants, or POL,troops lined them and placed the bladders.This stair-step approach worked very well.The bag farm was constructed with phenom-enal speed and precision.

CE and POL were partners from the verybeginning, wrestling with details, technicalproblems and ideas that were not always insync. And the POL troops were awesome.They pushed hard behind CE placing andconnecting the contingency fuel system, liningand installing 100 cells with 45,000-gallonbladders, installing four R-14 mobile hydrantfuel pumps and three R-22 booster pumps.

Getting the fuel to the fightBuilding the bag farm solved only half the

problem. We now had a place to store the fuel,but we still had to get the fuel to the fight. Tobe successful, we first had to deliver the fuel tothe storage bladders, then cross an activetaxiway, issue into the distribution bladdersand finally into the jets. At the same time wewere hashing through the design of the

Fuel FarmsFuel farms on

bare bases consistof fuel bladders,immense bagsmade of synthetic,rubber-like mate-rial, that store thefuel until it is is-sued to aircraft.The bladders,which come in10,000-, 50,000-and 210,000-gal-lon sizes, areplaced atop linersand inside largeearthen berms.


storage area, we were also formulating a planto move all that JP-8.

While there was quite a bit of war reservemateriel POL equipment in theater, we didn�tthink there would be enough, or that it couldget here fast enough. Not willing to rely solelyon WRM, the obvious engineering solution wasto install a pipeline distribution and hydrantfueling system. But, obvious answers are rarelysimple answers and this was no different.

First, A pipeline of that size doesn�t justhappen overnight, so we had to put it intodesign ASAP. Second, between the bag farmand the aircraft ramp was a very activetaxiway. Closing it so we could run fuel hosesor pipes across it was not an option. We hadtwo choices: open cut the taxiway and installthe lines, or go under the taxiway. That wasan easy choice, but again, not a simple one.

Our contracting officer coordinated theprocess with the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-neers and, with the help of the JOCcontractor, found a sub-contractor who couldmake the horizontal boring in minimal time.Using a state-of-the art directional drillingmachine, the contractor bored and lined a 60-centimeter hole with high-density polyethylene(HDPE) pipe, more than 72 lineal metersunder the taxiway, without interruptingaircraft operations.

A local mechanical contractor wasprocured to bring our vision of the pipelinedistribution and hydrant fueling system fromconcept to reality. The piping system consistedof 130 meters of 250-millimeter (10-inch)carbon steel pipe, 2,330 meters of 200-millimeter (8-inch) pipe, 120 meters of150-millimeter (6-inch) pipe, and 16 metersof 100-millimeter (4-inch) pipe, 80 gatevalves, 200 tee connections, 1,600 flangedjoints, 6,400 nuts, bolts and washers and 120butterfly valves.

To expedite fabrication, the contractoremployed a local shop to produce the flangedpipe spools. Strict quality control proceduresfor welding and testing were adhered tothroughout the process. Due to the existingsite conditions, approximately 60 percent ofthe welding was done in the fabrication shop.The remaining field welding was performedin areas that were not considered a safetyhazard. Each shop and field weld received 100percent visual inspection and critical weldsreceived 100 percent NDE (non-destructiveexamination) by ultrasonic, penetrant ormagnetic testing or x-ray. Of the 1,400 weldsmade, three were rejected and were reworkedto meet specifications � a phenomenalperformance.

With the bag farm and taxiway boring complete, phase threebegan with installation of the distribution bladders, the fuel hydrantsystem and underground piping on the flightline side of the taxiway.Work progressed without a hitch. With testing complete on thisphase, we could, if necessary, issue fuel to the flightline with tempo-rary flex hose installed by POL as a backup plan.

With some room to breathe, wethought, construction began on the off-loading header and issue lines to the bagfarm. All piping on the bag farm sidewas originally designed on abovegroundroller supports. During the hydrostatictest of the first third of the issue line,which was approximately 350 meterslong, a 6-meter flexible hose installed asan expansion joint failed, causing the lineto collapse. And down it came. The pipelooked like pickup sticks. Luckily no onewas injured. Our safety procedures fortesting took all non-essential personnelout of harm�s way.

Our construction manager andcontractor redesigned the entire supportsystem, and work was back on track inabout a week. The water used in thehydrostatic testing was supplied by thebase fire department. With the pipingsystem volume nearly 20,000 gallons,they used their pumper truck to fill thelines and boost the line pressure to neartest pressures, saving us hours of time.The remaining receipt and issue lineswere installed and tested without anothershowstopper, and the fuel flowed.

Tremendous teamworkThis $2 million project was com-

pleted in seemingly record time. Fromnotice to proceed to completion, we gotit done in 56 days. It was a Herculeaneffort that resulted in a wartime through-put averaging over 2 million gallons of jetfuel per day, with 53 million gallons beingprocessed during the peak 18-day periodin support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

The members of the 380th AEWwere tremendous in their teamwork, andwithout them this mission-critical projectwould not have been the success it was.And our counterparts at HQ CENTAF/A7 were paramount to the execution.None of the 380th�s success would havebeen possible without their support ingarnering the approval and fundingneeded to make it happen.

Maj Dave Eaton is commander of the380th ECES, and Mr. Ken Lombard is aconstruction manager for ReadinessManagement Support (RMS).

(Top to bottom) The 380th ECES brokeground Christmas Day 2002, excavatingand grading land for a new fuel farm attheir forward deployed location. Localcontractors perform quality controlchecks on the piping system. Capt JuanAlvarez, 380th ECES Engineering Flightchief, and construction manager KenLombard of RMS worked with contractorsto complete the project, which resulted ina wartime throughput averaging over 2million gallons of jet fuel per day.(Photos courtesy 380th ECES)

22 SPRING 2003

Just days prior to the start ofOperation IRAQI FREEDOM, an airfieldnear Iraq supporting coalition forceshad only one approach lightingsystem and severely degraded andproblematic airfield lights. Theexisting cables were buried under theairfield surface and had numerousshort circuits. The system was only50 percent operational and could notbe repaired easily.

In the middle of the night, U.S.Central Command Air Forces calledon a two-man crew, MSgt ScottOelschlager and SSgt PaulGolembiewski, at their deployedlocation in Pakistan to pack theirbags and travel to Prince Sultan AirBase, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.There, they would pick up anemergency airfield lighting system,or EALS, consisting of six trailers,do a thorough system check, ship itto another location, and then rede-ploy the entire set for the 10,000 by150-foot runway.

Within two hours of the call theywere on a plane to PSAB. SergeantOelschlager was selected for themission due to his prior experiencein instructing the EALS for SilverFlag training at the U.S. Air Forcesin Europe Contingency TrainingSchool at Ramstein AB, Germany.Sergeant Golembiewski had priorknowledge of the system from SilverFlag training and a prior kit reconsti-tution while stationed at RAFMildenhall, UK.

After flying for 10 hours, theywent to work as soon as they hit theground, even before procuringovernight accommodations. Theychecked in with PSAB Electric Shopforeman, MSgt Michael Palase, andcoordinated radios and support.They went to the airfield managerand determined the least impact to

airfield operations, then attempted todismantle the EALS between sorties.With only minimal permissible timeon the airfield, they could not use thetrailers with the cable reels. Theypicked up the cables separately forrepacking later. Two airmen fromPSAB, SrA Daniel Olds and A1CJohn Calton, provided radio support,access to the active runway withproperly marked vehicles, and laborbetween their regular jobs.

The team was only able to pickup 3,000 feet of airfield cable thefirst day due to non-stop airfieldactivity. At that rate the job wasgoing to take days, so they decidedto try a different tactic at night.Returning that evening, they re-quested permission from the tower toapproach the runway on foot toremove the cables. They were able topull the cables clear of the runwaywhile sorties were taking off andlanding. They picked up 15,000 feetof cable from the runway surface,rolled the 200-foot sections intoindividual spools and transportedthem back to the cable reels. Thenext morning they untangled androlled all 18,000 feet of cable backonto the cable reels for redeployment.They removed every item from thekit and performed a function checkto ensure they would be operationalwhen deployed.

When told that the 30kWgenerators that supported the EALSwere not operational, SergeantOelschlager relied on his vastexperience as an instructor totroubleshoot them and quickly getthem running. The third day had theteam reconstituting the kit andpreparing all six trailers for shipmentto the destination base. They packedeverything required for the missioninto four trailers to conserve airlift.

The other two trailers, a spareregulator and generator flew out at alater date.

They flew with the cargo and�hit the ground running.� Theyassessed the reparability of theinstalled host nation system � itwould require a major contractproject. When told that the hostnation had not yet given approval tocut taxiways and install the system,Sergeant Oelschlager massaged hisway through that limiting factor andgot the required approvals to installthe entire system.

Sergeants Oelschlager andGolembiewski worked the entireafternoon with a team from the410th Expeditionary Civil EngineerSquadron, testing the installed EALSat dusk. They were on the ground forless than 12 hours and flew out assoon as the job was done. Theinstallation consisted of: two com-plete approach lighting systems withsix rolling ball strobes, four precisionapproach path indicators, more than100 runway edge and threshold lightswith transformers, aircraft arrestmentbarrier lights, 10 distance-to-gomarkers and 20,300 feet of airfieldlighting cable. Operation IRAQI

FREEDOM commenced the followingmorning with this much-neededairfield as an important asset tocoalition forces.

These motivated mission expertswere able to think on their feet andget the job done. Both are trueprofessional CE electricians.

MSgt James Grace is the Electric Shopforeman for the 48th CES, RAFLakenheath, U.K. He recently rede-ployed from Prince Sultan AB, wherehe was the WRM superintendent.

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Civil engineers pull out all the stops to make sure a runwayis ready in time for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM

“After flying for 10 hours, they went to work as soon as they hit the ground,even before procuring overnight accommodations.”


This time last year, the 200th/201st Expedi-tionary RED HORSE Squadron was handlingmost of the large construction projects at AlUdeid Air Base, Qatar, and throughout thetheater for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. TheAir National Guard RED HORSE unit�stasking marked a turning point in Air Forcecivil engineer history. It represented the firsttime an entire reserve component REDHORSE squadron was tasked and partially

mobilized to support a major wartime operation andfunction as a full RED HORSE squadron, rather thanjust augmenting active duty operations or backfilling openpositions.

Two missions, worlds apartIn March 2002, the 200th/201st RED HORSE

Squadron was tasked to deploy a site survey team insupport of OEF, to be followed by the remainder of theunit. At the same time, the unit was committed toundertake a series of New Horizons humanitarianconstruction projects in Jamaica, which would be jeopar-dized without RED HORSE participation. With so manydeploying for OEF, finding the resources to participate inthe annual nation-building exercise would be a challenge.

Our site survey team met with the Combined ForcesAir Component Commander�s staff, other RED HORSEunits in theater and civil engineers at several mainoperating bases to evaluate theater-wide constructionrequirements. A phased deployment schedule was devel-oped that allowed many of our unit members to deploy ona voluntary annual training status to complete the NewHorizons requirement in Jamaica and then be partiallymobilized and deploy in support of OEF. To alleviatesome of the burden this would place on our personnel, the202nd RHS (Florida ANG) supplemented manpowerrequirements on one of our two-week rotations toJamaica.

By the end of March an ADVON team was deployedto Jamaica, while our advanced engineering planning celldeployed to Al Udeid AB to take over the reins of the 1stExpeditionary RED HORSE Group from the 823rdRHS. Team members established our squadron headquar-ters, or hub, at Al Udeid and prepared to rapidly spokeout to other main operating bases in theater.

Updating Al UdeidWhen the base camp and supporting facilities were

initially erected at Al Udeid AB in October and Novem-ber of 2001, Operation ENDURING FREEDOM had justbegun and it was unclear how long the facilities would berequired. As a result, many were erected in locations nowneeded for future construction and would have to berelocated.

The entire logistics complex was the first to go. Weworked with the 379th ECES to develop a master plan. Itconsisted of site development of a 50-acre area, construc-tion of a road network, bringing primary power from anexisting power plant to the proposed location, erection oftwo framed supported tensioned fabric shelters (FSTFS)and two aircraft hangars, relocation of one contingencydome shelter, installation of secondary distribution centersand secondary electrical power lines, and construction ofseveral material and equipment staging yards.

Due to the lack of large contingency dome shelters wedesigned and erected two Super K-Span facilities forvehicle maintenance and the air transportation center. Inaddition, site preparation was done for several UBM(ultimate building machine) and ABM (automated buildingmachine) facilities to be constructed by the 819th ERHS,which followed our deployment into the AOR.

To support all the communications requirements thatlogistics facilities require in a modern war, we had totrench over 12,000 linear feet through limestone bedrock

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Guard RED HORSE Squadron leadsconstruction efforts for ENDURING FREEDOM

SSgt Chris Blackwell, a heavy equipment operator with the200th/201st ERHS, operates an asphalt paving machine at AlUdeid AB. (Photo by A1C Tarkan Dospil)

24 SPRING 2003

and install over 70,000 linear feet of communicationsconduit and more than 40 pre-cast concrete manholes.

Prior to OEF, Al Udeid AB consisted of little morethan a runway and aircraft parking ramp. The entireairfield was accessed by meandering gravel roads. Travelon those roads turned up huge dust clouds and createdterrible FOD, or foreign object debris, problems on the

airfield. The dust clouds were a potential health andsafety problem, and required the ECES�s airfield sectionto continually grade, water and stabilize the roadways. Toalleviate the problem, the 823rd RHS engineering teamsurveyed and designed new roadways connecting themain work and operational centers with the main livingareas. The 200th/201st ERHS then followed the 823rdand paved over 8 miles of 28-foot-wide, double-laneroadway, placing over 15,000 metric tons of 350-degreeasphalt in 130 to 140-degree desert heat.

Construction in KyrgyzstanWithin days of arrival in the AOR we were tasked to

deploy to Ganci AB, Kyrgyzstan, to perform a site surveyof the airfield and munitions storage conditions. Theevaluation resulted in the design of a 120- by 1,200-footAM-2 mat aircraft parking ramp and three munitionsstorage areas constructed with HESCO barriers tosupport coalition aircraft programmed to deploy there.What followed was a five-month-long tasking andadditional projects for the unit to complete.

A couple months later we deployed a 35-personhorizontal construction team to another forward locationin the Central Command AOR. Several of the airfield�staxiways needed shoulder pavement repaired to allowlarger cargo aircraft to taxi, park and turn around. Ourengineering team evaluated the existing pavement systemand developed a comprehensive pavement plan to allowthe airfield to remain in operation while we rebuilt twoof the taxiways. For four months the unit jackhammered,excavated, graded and compacted sub base aggregate,

Warriors in theWar on Terror

RED HORSE Squadrons and PrimeBEEF teams are the �building strength� ofthe Air Force. Members of the 200th/201stExpeditionary RED HORSE Squadron areamong those who have made significantaccomplishments in the CENTCOM area ofresponsibility.

According to Lt Col Frank Sullivan,200th/201st ERHS commander, his crewsare some of the hardest workers around.�We call one guy �the machine,�� saidColonel Sullivan. �He will have been here330 days by the time we leave. He�s upbefore dawn and working until sundown.��The machine� is TSgt Kevin Newcomer,200th/201st ERHS airfield operations.

�Our motto back home is: �Work hard,play hard,� but the motto here is: �Work

hard, work hard,�� said MSgt PatrickWahlers, 200th/201st ERHS equip-ment operator. �We�ll work 18-hourdays with concrete and road con-struction,� said Wahlers. �At the endof the day, we file our reports and ittakes our last bit of energy to walkthe distance to our tent and lay downfor sleep.�

Inclement weather conditionshave amplified the difficulty. �Thetemperature was its hottest on the4th of July for our peak productionperiod � it climbed to more than125 degrees,� said Wahler. �The sandstorms were real bad from May toJuly. They were so severe youcouldn�t see the person next to you.We were limited to visibility of 10feet at times, but we never stopped.�

The 200th/201st ERHS mem-bers began rotating home in mid-

November, with the 819th/219thRHS from Malmstrom AFB, MT,taking over. According to Lt ColKent Cooper, 200th/201st ERHSlogistics commander, the work theydid was invaluable.

�These guys put in more than afull day of work,� said ColonelCooper. �Working six and sometimesseven days per week, they evenvolunteered to accomplish things ontheir days off. I know the meaning ofbeing able to depend upon our REDHORSE folks, but the work they didat Al Udeid and other sites in thetheater gives me a new appreciationof the Air Force�s combat construc-tion engineers. They are trulywarriors in the War on Terror.�(From an article by 2Lt Marcella Keiter,379th AEW Public Affairs)

SSgt Todd W. Puckett, 200th/201st ERHS airfields section, cutsconduit for airfield taxiway lighting at a forward-deployedlocation. (Photo by A1C Joe Pearce)


placing over 3,000 cubic meters of concrete and ulti-mately increasing the base�s cargo handling capacity.

Rebuilding BagramThe following May we deployed a team to Bagram

AB, Afghanistan, where the U.S. Army was in charge ofbase operating support, to evaluate beddown conditionsfor Air Force personnel, the airfield pavement system andthe base�s air traffic control tower. During the site surveythe team found that the Air Force beddown was con-structed of deteriorating GP medium tents that werebeginning to fall down due to lack of maintenance. Also,the tents and operational facilities were erected too closetogether for fire and safety purposes, were improperlywired, and were in a general state of disrepair.

In addition, Air Force personnel had converted abombed-out former Soviet bunker into a shower facility.Due to lack of adequate drainage, gray water from theshower drained into a poorly constructed retention pondin the middle of the Air Force tent city. And at theairfield, which was constructed from hand-mixed andplaced concrete using river-washed aggregate, years ofSoviet bombings, the recent coalition air campaign andcurrent operations had taken their toll.

From June through October, a 40-person construc-tion team was deployed to Bagram, along with newTEMPER tents, lumber, cement, bare base electricalcomponents and heavy equipment, to begin the repairprocess. We developed a phased beddown plan thatallowed for partial teardown of existing Air Forcefacilities while still allowing operations to continue. Weworked with Army Prime Power personnel to bring anew electric distribution system into the base camp topower the facilities and environmental control units.

In about six weeks, we had completely rebuilt thebilleting area, fire station and main operational areas. Wereplaced the sanitary facilities with new modern modularunits and re-wired the air control tower. A combinedteam of RED HORSE, Army andcoalition engineers removed andreplaced more than five hundred 144-square-foot concrete slabs on theairfield. In the end, over 2,500 cubicmeters of concrete were mixed, placedand finished while the airfield re-mained active on an alternate side tokeep the supply train for all U.S.forces in the area open.

More SpokesWe had deployed construction

teams on the ground at five otherlocations, as well. At one site the teamconstructed a new vehicle search areawith pre-cast concrete search pits and asecurity forces operations center and

completed site development of a 30-acre expansion area tothe existing tent city.

At the other four locations, our teams evaluated a fueloffload area, reviewed force protection constructionprojects, and completed a perimeter road project and anaircraft arresting system installation.

Around the Mid-East in 180 DaysBy the end of the 200th/201st ERHS�s 180-day OEF

tour, we had deployed more than 350 personnel, withadditional manpower from the 203rd RED HORSEFlight, the 49th Materiel Maintenance Group, the 183rdFighter Wing and the 134th Air Reserve Wing. Our hostunits, the 180th Fighter Wing and the 193rd SpecialOperations Wing, provided outstanding support for thishigh number of personnel.

We deployed to 13 main operating bases across theAOR in 10 different countries, completing 21 individualprojects at seven bases simultaneously and performingengineering evaluations and site surveys at six otherlocations. We executed over $14.5 million in constructionmaterial procurement and heavy equipment rental. Weplaced 10,000 cubic meters of concrete and 15,000metric tons of asphalt, used 1 million gallons of construc-tion water and consumed 100,000 metric tons of crushedaggregate. We deployed more than 50 C-17 loads ofheavy equipment, materials and personnel from ourheadquarters at Al Udeid AB to our spoke locationsthroughout the AOR.

We were also responsible for maintaining the longestRED HORSE spoke operation in history, with ourheadquarters in Qatar and our New Horizons spoke at UpPark Camp in Jamaica � more than 7,000 miles apart!

Maj William Giezie, 200th RED HORSE Squadron, Ohio AirNational Guard, was the 200th/201st ERHS operationsofficer on this deployment.

SSgt Phillip Boss, 200th/201st ERHS engineering assistant, uses a theodolite tomeasure the vertical and horizontal angles of a new taxiway extension inKyrgyzstan. (Photo by MSgt Jerry King)

26 SPRING 2003

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Contingency construction tosupport the Combined Forces AirComponent Commander and theGlobal War on Terrorism has beenimpressive � a tribute to all thedeployed engineers who workedlong hours in harsh conditions andsacrificed time away from theirfamilies. Behind that superb effort isa little known team of professionalswhose job it is to plan, program andtechnically guide civil engineerefforts where needed � the South-west Asia Delivery Team.

U.S. Central Command AirForces� programming, design andconstruction program exceeds that ofmost major commands. In the pastyear, CENTAF executed Operationsand Maintenance and MilitaryConstruction projects totaling morethan $1.5 billion at 20 forwardoperating locations in support of theGlobal War on Terrorism. A vitalcomponent of CENTAF�s executionprocess during Operations SOUTHERN

WATCH, ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI

FREEDOM was the advocacy providedby the Air Combat CommandSouthwest Asia Delivery Team atLangley Air Force Base, VA, forproject planning, programming andconstruction requirements.

An important purposeIn November 1996, The ACC

Civil Engineer saw the need for amulti-functional team to be the single�belly button� for issues in SouthwestAsia, and the SWA DT was born. Itwas chartered to provide the expertresponsiveness necessary to wrestlecomplex planning, programming andconstruction execution issues toground. Throughout its tenure, theteam�s focus has been to support thewarfighter, ensuring that the Com-bined Forces Air ComponentCommander, CENTAF and deployed

wing commanders have the rightresources � facilities, infrastructure,supplies and equipment � to operatetheir bases.

The ACC Deputy Civil Engineer,Col Ed Angel, is the chairperson andis charged with guiding the SWA DT,an integrated group of 26 personnelfrom various ACC directorates, HQUSCENTAF A7, HQ USCENTCOM CCJ4-E and HQ USAF

ILE. The ACC Civil EngineerPrograms Division is the facilitator.Issues are worked continuously, butthe team meets formally on a monthlybasis to solve problems and ensureaction items are identified to resolveplanning, programming, design,construction and manning issues forforward operating locations.

�We aren�t just interested inconstruction,� said Brig Gen PatBurns, The ACC Civil Engineer.�We�re interested in construction that

directly brings added capability to thefront-line troops. For example, early inOIF we learned that for every addi-tional bomber parking space we built,over $1.2 million per month was savedin maintenance costs for each aircraftparked and 25 percent more bombscould be dropped on target. That kindof relationship gives added importanceto pouring concrete.�

With OEF and OIF underway,

the team�s had a very busy year. Inaddition to overseeing $1.5 billion inO&M and MILCON construction at20 deployed bases, the team devel-oped contingency general plans forfive locations and programmed morethan $1.3 billion through MILCONand host nation funding.

Building the futurePeople at all levels can give better

support if everyone is looking at thesame picture. Prior to the start of

A multi-functional team ensures forward-deployed civil engineershave the resources necessary to operate their bases

26 SPRING 2003

Contingency General Plan teams deploy to a location for two weeks to develop adetailed base development plan. This CGP team worked at Ganci AB/ManasInternational Airport in (date?). (Photos courtesy HQ ACC/CEP)


OEF and OIF, CENTAF recognizedthat establishing a base developmentplan was essential to provide the wayahead at each forward operatinglocation, especially since new troopsrotate in and out every 90 days. As aresult, ACC established planningteams to pair up with USCENTAFA7 and develop short- and long-termplans � the Contingency GeneralPlan. The goal of the CGP is tobasically convert concept into con-struction.

�We want to look at the future ofany forward base through the eyes ofthe CFACC,� said Col (sel) KevinRumsey, chief, ACC ProgramsDivision.

The SWA DT became a forcemultiplier for CENTAF A7 byproviding technical services and acentral clearinghouse, ensuring thatCENTCOM CCJ4-E, USCENTAFA7, HQ USAF ILE and HQ ACCCE are all in sync with requirementsat forward operating locations.

The CGP team�s footprint issmall. The SWA DT assembles 12 to15 experts for each CGP visit. Theydeploy to each location for two weeksto develop a detailed plan, includingfacility project lists for facilities andinfrastructure systems. A typical CGPteam includes a planner, two engi-neering assistants, and facility, water,wastewater, electrical, fuels, mechani-cal, pavement and force protectionengineers.

Brig Gen Myron Ashcroft, 376thAir Expeditionary Wing Commander,had this to say about the team: �Thisplanning effort stands out as the wayto do visits. This makes it look likewe truly know what we are doingstrategically and not just workingcurrent issues. Our coalition partnershave been particularly impressed withthe product, and the force protectionsection has been able to use theproduct as well.�

The SWA DT has developedplans for Prince Sultan Air Base andBishkek-Manas (Ganci AB) as well asseveral other AOR bases and isworking additional plans for otherkey locations to meet the CFACC�s

2010 vision, which is the vision forthe Southwest Asia area of responsi-bility.

Making things legalThe programming phase is

where we match the requirementwith the funds and authority, legaliz-ing the construction efforts. The ACCSWA DT prepared DD Form 1391programming documents andfacilitated project approvals for morethan $500 million in contingency andMILCON requirements during OIF.The results were outstanding.

�Some projects were approved inas little as three days,� said GeneralBurns. Projects included aircraftramps, taxiways, damaged runwayrepair in Afghanistan and Iraq, waterwells, cantonment areas and diningfacilities to meet current OEF andOIF mission needs. Projects werealso programmed in preparation forfuture beddown missions in supportof the CFACC�s 2010 plan.

Construction� the fun stuffRequirements determination and

project programming is important.But, when troops are waiting 60minutes for a hot meal because thedining hall is too small, the front-linecivil engineer needs dirt moved andnew buildings rising up out of thesand.

In this regard, the SWA DT hadthe greatest impact. CENTAF A7 andACC�s Construction Division orches-trated a truly remarkable integrated

approach using RED HORSE, PrimeBEEF and contractors to execute thelargest wartime construction programsince the Vietnam War.

Members of the ACC SWA DTplanned and managed projects thatprovided more than 160 acres, or 145football fields, of aircraft parking space;70 acres of taxiways; more than 1.2million square feet of permanentfacilities for dormitories and commu-nity center facilities; and more than 2.3million square feet of temporaryfacilities for hangars and contingencybilleting space.

�The key to successful projectexecution was to match the capabilities,availability and skills of the constructiongroup with the requirement and needdate,� said Lt Col Dave Nelson,CENTAF Deputy A7.

More than 10,000 engineers havedeployed in support of OEF and OIF inthe past 18 months, and each had adramatic impact on the CFACC�scapability to put bombs on target.Those engineers can be justifiablyproud of the work they did fighting ournation�s Global War on Terrorism. Themembers of the SWA DT are just gladthey were able to help CENTAF A7 andour deployed engineers get the re-sources they needed to get the job done!

Maj John Thomas is chief of the South-west Asia Delivery Team at HQ ACC,Langley AFB, VA.


The SWA Delivery Team resolvesplanning, programming andconstruction issues for civilengineers in forward operatinglocations to expedite projectssuch as this aircraft parkingramp built by a Prime BEEF teamfor Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, andbeddowns such as the tent cityat Manas, Kyrgyzstan, below.(Tent city photo by CMSgtAndrew Stanley)

28 SPRING 2003

In the aftermath of the tragicevents of 9/11, President Bushordered combat air patrols, as part ofOperation NOBLE EAGLE, to guard theskies over the country�s borders andover major cities. That order resultedin fighter jets temporarily operatingfrom airfields not equipped withaircraft arresting systems. This poseda danger for pilots and aircraft alike,since there would be no cable acrossthe runway to stop aircraft duringemergency landings or abortedtakeoffs. Aircraft would likelycontinue through the overrun andcrash into whatever might lie beyondthe runway.

Without knowing how long theCAP flights would last, Air Forceleadership decided it wasn�t worth therisk of losing an aircraft, or worse,losing the life of a pilot, to keepflying without the arresting systemsin place. The only problem was thatwar plans did not anticipate having toinstall mobile aircraft arrestingsystems, or MAAS, in the continentalUnited States, so there were no assetsto send to each airfield supportingCAP operations. That�s where theCivil Engineer Maintenance, Inspec-tion and Repair Team, aka CEMIRT,came into play.

CEMIRT is a specialized teambelonging to the Air Force CivilEngineer Support Agency, Tyndall AirForce Base, FL. Part of CEMIRT�smission is to provide intermediateand depot-level repair support onpower generation, electrical distribu-tion, and aircraft arresting systems.CEMIRT has nine 7-person special-ized Prime BEEF teams that providecommanders with power productionand electrical expertise during

wartime, military operations otherthan war, humanitarian and naturaldisaster recovery actions.

CEMIRT serves as the WarnerRobins Air Logistics Center depotoverhaul source for aircraft arrestingsystems and supports civil engineerswith 10-year overhauls to maintainmission-capable rates. The teamcontinually strives to reduce costs andsave the Air Force money by improv-ing business practices. One proactiveinitiative involved acquiring 12condemned MAASs to use for spareparts or, if suitable, completelyrefurbishing the systems to add to theAir Force inventory. This foresightproved extremely beneficial for CAPoperations after 9/11.

CEMIRT received a requestasking if it could provide a MAASwithin 60 days to support CAP

operations at a West Coast base.CEMIRT notified the requester thatit had condemned sets that could berefurbished within 30 days and calledin additional help from the team�soperating locations at Travis AFB,CA, and Dover AFB, DE, to assist.

The overhaul team worked 12-hour shifts, six days a week, to meetthe deadline. The team, led by Mr.John W. Smith, an aircraft arrestingsystem equipment specialist, workedmiracles to have the system com-pletely refurbished and outfitted withupgraded installation hardware andtool sets in just 30 days. The systemwas then loaded on a flatbed trailerand hauled to the West Coast base,arriving within 35 days of therequest.

The 200th RED HORSESquadron from Port Clinton, OH,

by C

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CEM

IRT

CEMIRT Provides Mobile Aircraft Arresting Systems for ONE and OEF

CEMIRT provided mobile aircraft arrestingsystems that enabled fighter aircraft tooperate safely from bases in the U.S. andat deployed locations in Southwest andSouth Central Asia. (Top) Mr. Gary Krajnikputs the finishing touches on a MASSrefurbished by CEMIRT. (Right) TSgt ChrisJordan and CMSgt Glenn Deese performan operational check on a refurbishedMAAS. (Photos courtesy CEMIRT)


Members of Air Force ResearchLaboratory�s Airbase TechnologiesDivision performed jet engine trimpad anchor tests throughout theCENTCOM area of responsibilityduring Operations ENDURING FREE-DOM and IRAQI FREEDOM.

was tasked to perform theinstallation. The weather did notcooperate at first; the areareceived several inches of rain justdays before installation began,converting the ground next to therunway into a swampy mess.Eventually the ground driedsufficiently to complete theinstallation. With installation ofthe MAAS, CAP operationscontinued with a much higherdegree of safety for aircraft andpilots.

As Operation ENDURING

FREEDOM kicked off, troops weredeployed throughout theCENTCOM theater of operationsto air bases that had never beenoccupied by U.S. troops. Again,flying operations were based atairfields where arresting systemswere non-existent. Assets weredrawn from war reserves toensure safe flying operations. Thiscaused the inventory to dipdangerously low, should a conflictbegin elsewhere in the worldrequiring arresting systems.Again, CEMIRT was called toprovide MAAS systems to buildthe reserves back to safe levels.

CEMIRT was asked tooverhaul 14 systems within 20months. This put a strain onoperations, but CEMIRT person-nel rolled up their sleeves andbegan producing a completelyrefurbished MAAS every 45 days,in addition to maintaining theirnormal workload. By mid-April2003, CEMIRT had produced 10systems on schedule, with anotherfour due by Sept. 30. The AirForce saved more than $1.5million in replacement costs byhaving CEMIRT refurbish 15systems that were originallycondemned and destined for theDefense Reutilization andMarketing Office.

CMSgt Glenn Deese is the opera-tions manager for the CivilEngineer Maintenance, Inspectionand Repair Team, Tyndall AFB, FL.

The testing was done to prevent failure fromshear, bearing, bending, compression, pullout orrotation of the concrete slab, connecting hardwareand anchor components. The advantage to the warfighters is safety of the aircraft and personnelperforming engine run ups and a huge savings oftime and money. Engine maintenance shops save

hundreds of thousands of dollars foreach engine they do not have to shipback to home station for testing.

Lt Col R. Craig Mellerski, MSgtWoody Lisner, and Mr. Gary Wagner(ARA, Inc.) tested and certified nineanchors in four countries. Each locationprovided outstanding support for theteam to accomplish their mission. Thetesting was accomplished in accordancewith Engineering Technical Letter,00-2, Inspection and Testing of TrimPad Anchoring Systems. (Lt Col CraigMellerski, AFRL)

(Above) An Airborne RED HORSE team poses in a crater on arunway at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, beforebeginning repairs. The team named it the �mother of allcraters� as it was 135 feet wide, 40 feet deep and filled withwater 15 feet deep. Brig Gen Pat Burns, the Air CombatCommand Civil Engineer, said the crater was well over twicethe size of any crater repaired in training or combat. REDHORSE is repairing the civilian and military runways atBaghdad IAP, a primary base of operations for U.S. troops,cargo and humanitarian airlift for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.(Right) ARH members pose in front of a portrait of SaddamHussein near Tallil AB. (Photos courtesy HQ ACC/CEX)

HORSEing Around Iraq

A Research Lab in the DesertA Research Lab in the Desert

AFRL members recently performed jet engine trimpad anchor tests at five locations in the CENTCOMAOR (Photo courtesy AFRL/MLQD)

30 SPRING 2003

Education & TrainingEducation & Training

Available at http://65.204.17.188//report/doc_ufc.html

UFC 3-120-01, Air Force Sign Standard

UFC 3-400-02, Design: EngineeringWeather Data

UFC 3-460-03, O&M: Maintenance of Petroleum Systems

UFC 3-570-06, O&M: Cathodic Protection Systems

Available at http://www.afcesa.af.mil/Publica-tions/ETLs/default.html

ETL 03-1, Storm Water Construction Standards

ETL 03-3, Air Force Carpet Standard

Available at http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/AFI 32-1043, Managing, Operating, and Maintaining

Aircraft Arresting Systems

AFPAM 32-1123V1, Working in the Operations Manage-ment Field

AFCAT 21-209V2, Demolition Munitions

Apply On-Linefor CESS

The Civil Engineer and ServicesSchool at the Air Force Institute ofTechnology recently launched a newon-line application process. For thefirst time, individuals can applydirectly to CESS for admission to theschool�s classes.

Start by reviewing the coursedescriptions on AFIT�s web page athttp://www.afit.edu.

� Select Civil Engineer andServices School

� On the next screen, selectCourses

� Select the type of course youare interested in: Services Manage-ment, Engineering Management, or

Visit the AFCESA public website atwww.afcesa.af.mil/Library/Publications.

A-Gram List� 03-11�Improved Herbicide Application Technology

� 03-12�Unexploded Ordnance Safety Training ProgramCD-ROM

� 03-13�CE Vehicle Acquisition Support

� 03-14�Obtaining A Special Purpose Vehicle LeaseWith Option To Buy

Did you know that failure to complywith the National Telecommunicationsand Information Administrationnarrowband mandate within the timeframes specified can lead to thedirected shutdown of all yournoncompliant systems? All radios thattransmit and/or receive voice, data orvideo in the 138-150.8 MHz, 162-174MHz, and the 406.1-420 MHz bandsrequire narrowband migration byspecified time frames.

Before you purchase a radio-basedsystem, you need to contact yourinstallation spectrum manager (for-merly known as base frequencymanager) to obtain a frequencylicense.

The Air Force Civil Engineer SupportAgency has a Help Desk ready toassist you with your narrowbandconversion efforts. Call DSN 523-6995or commercial (850) 283-6995, or visitthe Help Desk web site at https://wwwmil.afcesa.af.mil/Directorate/CES/Mechanical/Narrowband/default.htm.

Environmental Management. Youcan also apply for the school�s satelliteseminars at this location

� Click on any course to view itsdescription, information about theintended audience, and prerequisites,as well as a schedule of upcomingclasses and instructions for applying

� To apply, select Apply at thebottom of the screen and follow theprompts.

The enrollment period for allCESS courses opens 90 days beforethe class start date. If enrollment forthe course you selected is not open,you have the option of requesting areminder be sent to you whenenrollment opens. CESS will notifyyou and your supervisor by e-mail ofthe status of your application after

Course Director review.A special note about satellite

classes: Satellite courses require afacilitator at each base who serves asthe CESS representative to help theinstructor administer the class. If youare the first approved applicant(primary or secondary) from yourbase, we will telephone you to askwhether you are willing to handle thisimportant duty.

Questions?Address an e-mail to

[email protected]. Type �ApplicationProcess� in the subject line. Send usyour question and we�ll respondquickly. (Diane Osborne, Chief,Academic Operations and Support,CESS, AFIT)

NewlyReleased

Technical Publications


EducationContinuingContinuing

Course No. Title Off Start Dates Grad DatesSeminar (S) Stormwater Seminar 04A 09-Oct 09-OctMGT 101 Intro. to Base Civil Engineer Organization 04A 20-Oct 13-DecMGT 412 Financial Management Course 04A 20-Oct 31-Oct* CE Superintendent 04A 27-Oct 07-NovENV 418 Environmental Contracting 04A 27-Oct 07-NovSeminar (S) Hazardous Waste Accumulation Site/Initial 04A 06-Nov 06-Nov

Point ManagementENV 020 (S) Environmental Compliance Assessment 04A 17-Nov 20-NovENV 222 (S) Hazardous Material Management Program 04A 02-Dec 04-DecENV 419 Env. Planning, Programming & Budgeting 04A 02-Dec 04-DecSeminar (S) Utilities Privatization Seminar 04A 16-Dec 16-Dec

*course number had not yet been assigned as of press time

36

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TC

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En

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eer

and

Serv

ices

Sch

oo

lRegistration forresident courses,which are offered atWright-PattersonAFB, OH, beginsapproximately 90days in advance.Applications mustgo through thestudent�s MAJCOMTraining Manager.Registration for thesatellite offerings,marked with an (S),closes 30 daysbefore broadcast.For satellite registra-tion, courseinformation, or acurrent list of classdates, visit theCESS website at:http://cess.afit.edu.

Sheppard AFB, TXCourse No. Title Start Dates Grad DatesJ3AZR3E051-003 Cathodic Protection 01-Oct/24-Nov 15-Oct/08-DecJ3AZR3E051-007 Airfield Lighting 01-Oct/04-Dec 10-Oct/15-DecJ3AZR3E051-008 Electrical Distribution Sys. Maint. 17-Oct/21-Nov 14-Nov/19-DecJ3AZR3E051-010 Bare Base Electrical Systems 01-Oct/10-Nov/19-Dec 15-Oct/24-Nov/12-JanJ3AZR3E051-012 Fire Alarm Systems 01-Oct/28-Oct/24-Nov/19-Dec 27-Oct/21-Nov/18-Dec/23-JanJ3AZR3E051-013 Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) 01-Oct/10-Nov/19-Dec 21-Oct/01-Dec/16-JanJ3AZR3E071-001 CE Adv. Elec. Troubleshooting 22-Oct/20-Nov/19-Dec 19-Nov/18-Dec/27-JanJ3AZR3E472-000 Liq. Fuels Storage Tank Entry Spvsr. 06-Oct 17-OctJ3AZR3E472-001 Liq. Fuels Sys. Maintenance Tech. 20-Oct 31-OctJ3AZR3E451-004 Fire Suppression Systems Maint. 20-Oct/01-Dec 07-Nov/19-DecJ3AZR3E471-101 Bare Base Water Purification and 01-Oct/29-Oct/03-Dec 10-Oct/07-Nov/12-Dec

Distribution SystemsJ3ARR3E453-002 Pest Management Re-Certification 20-Oct/03-Nov 24-Oct/07-NovJ3AZR3E052-013 CE Advanced Electronics 22-Oct 19-NovJ3AZR3E072-002 Troubleshoot. Elec. Power Gen. Eq. 29-Oct 20-NovJ3AZR3E072-113 Bare Base Power Generation 20-Oct 13-NovJ3AZR3E151-013 HVAC/R Controls Systems 15-Oct 19-NovJ3AZR3E151-014 Direct Expansion Systems 23-Oct 25-NovJ3AZR3E151-015 Indirect Expansion Systems 06-Oct 24-Oct

Course No. Title Start Dates Grad DatesJ3AZP3E571-003 Engineering Design 20-Oct/01-Dec 31-Oct/12-DecJ3AZP3E571-005 Construction Materials Testing 06-Oct/03-Nov 17-Oct/14-NovJ3AZP3E971-003 Advanced Readiness 20-Oct/03-Nov/01-Dec 24-Oct/07-Nov/05-DecJ3AZP3E971-005 NBC Cell Operations 06-Oct/27-Oct/17-Nov 10-Oct/31-Oct/21-Nov

Course No. Title Start Dates Grad DatesJ5AZN3E871-001 Adv. Access and Disablement 06-Oct/27-Oct/01-Dec 20-Oct/07-Nov/12-DecJ5AZN3E871-002 Advanced EOD Course 28-Oct/02-Dec 08-Nov/13-Dec

Course No. Title Start Dates Grad DatesJ3AZP3E351-001 Low Slope Maint. & Repair 20-Oct/03-Nov/01-Dec 30-Oct/14-Nov/11-DecJ3AZP3E351-002 Fabrication Welded Pipe Joints 21-Oct/02-Dec 01-Nov/13-DecJ3AZP3E351-003 Metals Layout Fab. & Welding 07-Oct/04-Nov 25-Oct/22-Nov

Ft. Leonard Wood, MO

Indian Head, MD

Gulfport, MS

Additional course information is available on the 366th TRS web site at https://webm.sheppard.af.mil/366trs/default.htm.Students may enroll on a space-available basis up until the class� start date by contacting their unit training manager.

Wright-Patterson AFB, OH

32 SPRING 2003

CE WorldCE World

An F4 tornado struck Tinker AirForce Base, OK, May 8, ravaging thearea with 150 to 260 mph winds thatinflicted more than $10 million indamage to the base. There were noreported injuries or damaged aircraft.

The $10 million estimate, saidBase Civil Engineer Stephen Mallott,is the estimated �total cost of theimpact, which includes clean-up,repair and replacement.�

Getting the base back to pre-storm conditions may take months,according to Mr. Mallott, who saidcivil engineering experts are prioritiz-ing repairs. �The main thing wasgetting fences back up, the secondthing was getting power restored,and that�s been accomplished.�

What a difference 4 feet makes� in this case $20,000.

Every May, the 76th HelicopterFlight�s fleet has to move because itshangar at Vandenberg Air ForceBase, CA, is used for GuardianChallenge ceremonies. GuardianChallenge is an Air Force SpaceCommand five-day competition ofspace and missile units.

For years the flight has rented atent to house the helicopters, whichcost $20,000 for the two weeks. Plus,the tent moorings damaged theflightline.

Last month, Vandenberg civilengineers modified a door at anothernearby hangar by 4 feet, 6 inches tomake room for the helicopter fleet.Now they are housed there, and thebase saves $20,000 a year. Theproject took one month to completeand cost $49,000.

The hangar door opening wasoriginally 10 feet tall, which providedvery little room to maneuver ahelicopter into it. �There was about a4-inch leeway for a helicopter to bemoved into the hangar. We originallyhad to have someone hold down oneof the propellers in order to get thehelicopter in the building,� said JohnKalusky, project manager at the 30thCivil Engineer Squadron.

Tinker Tornado Damage Exceeds $10 MillionThough significant, Tinker losses

left many feeling lucky. �From a basefacility standpoint, the damage isminimal compared to what it couldhave been,� said Mr. Pete Girillo,72nd Air Base Wing fire chief. �Ifthis thing had gone 500 yards north,it would have hit the Navy and wouldhave come across and taken out partof the AirborneWarning andControl Systemand a fire station.

�You have tolook at the positive side to this thing.We had two major storms, two daysin a row and because of the notifica-tion systems we have implemented,the people in Oklahoma, Tinker

included, reacted the way they weresupposed to.�

Mallott agreed. �We certainlydon�t like having a tornado, but I cantell you our folks responded justsuperbly,� he said. �From the securityforces corralling everyone into thestorm shelters to the immediateresponse by the fire department and

our engineeringoperationsimmediatelyconductingdamage

assessment � it was an outstandingeffort on everyone�s part.� (From anAFMC News Service article by AmyWelch, Oklahoma City Air LogisticsCenter Public Affairs)

CEs Modify Hangar, Save MoneyWorkers from the 30th CES

modified a design that would allow themain rotor on the top of the helicopterto come into the hangar unobstructed.

�It fit the bill perfectly, we hadexactly what we needed to get the jobdone,� said 2Lt Phillip Baker, 30thCES project programmer. �This willsave us a lot of money in the long run,because not only did the tent cost a

lot, it was also destroying the tarmacon which it was being set up. It wouldcost $300,000 to replace the tarmac.So, it was either replace the tarmac ordo something about the tent.�

Although 2003�s GuardianChallenge was canceled because ofreal-world operations, the hangar isready for future events. (Amn JuanikaGlover, 30th Space Wing Public Affairs)

�From a base facility standpoint, thedamage is minimal compared to whatit could have been,�

�Mr. Pete Girillo

A helicopter is pushed into the hangar 30th CES members modified for the 76thHelicopter Flight. (Photo by SrA Jonathan Pomeroy)


Air Force installation to replace asphalt roofs with metalfor all base housing.

�His idea has been forwarded to AETC for wideruse,� said Anita Cox, 47th Flying Training Wing IDEAanalyst. �If the command decides to use it at its otherbases, there could be more savings identified. That alsomeans more award money could be earned by Mr.Hendrix.� The maximum limit for an IDEA award is$10,000, said Ms. Cox. (TSgt Anthony Hill, 47th FlyingTraining Wing public affairs)

CE PeopleCE People

Mr. Donald Hendrix, 47th Civil Engineer Squadron,Laughlin Air Force Base, TX, received a $3,969 awardrecently for an idea he submitted under the InnovativeDevelopment through Employee Awareness, or IDEA,Program that will save the Air Force $1,130,744 over thenext 45 years.

After a severe hailstorm caused extensive damage tothe asphalt roofs at Laughlin last year, Mr. Hendrix, thesquadron�s construction representative, researched andfound that metal roofing lasted longer than asphalt roofsand would better withstand heavy hail and high winds,thereby saving the Air Force money in roof replacementcosts.

As the base evaluator, Mr. Marvin Parvino, 47th CESdeputy base civil engineer, conducted a detailed analysisof Mr. Hendrix�s research and confirmed that replacingthe roofs with metal would benefit the Air Force. Themetal roof has a 50-year warranty against hail and 120-mph wind damage, whereas asphalt roofs did not warrantthose types of damages.

�The metal roof provides better comfort for resi-dents,� said Mr. Hendrix. �It reduces installation time by50 percent and produces minimal amounts of construc-tion debris such as nails and other dangerous objects. Themetal roof also looks like traditional asphalt shingles.�

About half of Laughlin�s base housing currently hasmetal roofing as a result of Mr. Hendrix�s suggestion. The47th CES expects to have 100 percent of Laughlin�shousing fitted with metal roofs within the next year. Mr.Hendrix said he is more excited about Laughlin havingsuch an extensive project than he is about receiving theaward. According to the 47th CES, Laughlin is the first

Laughlin CE Rewarded for Money-Saving IDEA

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeldannounced the winners of the 2002 Secretary ofDefense Annual Environmental Awards ProgramMay 5. Air Force winners are:

� Tinker Air Force Base, OK, forenvironmental quality

� Hill AFB, UT, for environmentalrestoration

� Ms. Karlene B. Leeper, 611th Air SupportGroup, Elmendorf AFB, AK, for culturalresources management

Each year, the defense secretary honorsinstallations, teams and individuals at domesticand overseas bases for promoting and makingsignificant lasting contributions to Department ofDefense environmental programs. These pro-grams support the U.S. military mission, protectour national heritage and promote quality of life.(DoD News Release)

Air Force Wins DoDEnvironmental Awards

Air Force personnelhave garnered five of thisyear�s White House�Closing the Circle�Awards. The Closing theCircle Award recognizesfederal facilities andemployees for significantachievements in environ-mental compliance andprotection. This year 26award winners wereselected from more than200 nominations.

Civil Engineers Honoredfor �Closing the Circle�

Following are the AirForce winners by category:

� Education andOutreach: Michael �Re-cycle� Redfern, HQ AETC/CEV, Randolph AFB, TX

� Affirmative Procure-ment: Wright-PattersonAFB, OH

� Waste/PollutionPrevention: John A. Wildie,12th CES, Randolph AFB,TX

� EnvironmentalManagement Systems: 7thCES Environmental Flight,Dyess AFB, TX

� Recycling: PatrickAFB, FL

Donald Hendrix discusses a metal roof with Lt Col Michael Blaylock, 47th CEScommander, atop a home in base housing. Mr. Hendrix earned an award for hisidea to replace asphalt roofs with metal roofs. (Photo by TSgt Anthony Hill)

34 SPRING 2003

2003 Senior Master Sergeant-SelectsRobert L. ApplingJose A. Badillo IIIMark E. BarnerJohn E. BattisKenneth L. BennettDavid A. BerridgeRalph V. BreaRodger E. BrownJack L. BuchmanDavid W. CampbellNicholas CampbellRichard L. CartDavid L. CookAlberto C. CzeczotkoMichael R. Czekaj Jr.Dwight DanielDwright J. DavisKarl R. DeutschDavid C. Eldridge Jr.John A. Etter Jr.David M. FainJoel X. Fernandez

Kevin E. FitzgeraldWilliam J. FlynnBrian K. FosterMichael C. GarrouJohn L. Gibson IIRodolfo GonzalesJoseph C. Gootee Jr.Randal L. GrimesReginald L. HammondJeffery HannafordDouglas R. HartwellMichael A. HastMichael L. HatfieldSamuel C. HazzardMark A. HepnerEric J. HoneycuttPatrick A. HoppaughMark B. IsamanMichael R. JenksCurtis A. JenningsJohn M. JoyceBrian P. Kaley

Todd M. KatzDennis B. LaclaireBrian T. LanghorneManuel T. Lapuz Jr.Michael D. LefebvreDale D. LittlesPhilip W. Lopes Jr.Lorenzo LuechtefeldPhillip M. MackBridgid K. MacSeoinKenneth E. McClureJohn J. MollickMuhammad W. MustafaRobert C. NelundAndre R. PareHarold D. PattersonDavid J. PoulinChristian M. PughVernon S. RayeBrian O. RichardsonMichael A. RobertsDonald F. Roy

Maj Gen L. Dean Fox, formerly theDirector of Civil Engineering, Headquar-ters Air Mobility Command, Scott AirForce Base, IL, is now The Civil Engineer,Deputy Chief of Staff, Installations andLogistics, HQ USAF, Washington D.C.

General Fox replaces Maj Gen Earnest O.Robbins II, who retired in May. Brig Gen (S)Delwyn R. Eulberg, formerly the SpecialAssistant to the Commander, Air WarfareCenter, Air Combat Command, Nellis AFB,NV, is now the Director of Civil Engineeringfor HQ AMC.

Brig Gen David M. Cannan retired asthe Command Civil Engineer, HQ AirForce Materiel Command, Wright-PattersonAFB, OH, in May. Mr. James R. Pennino,a member of the Senior Executive Serviceand Deputy Command Civil Engineer atHQ AFMC, is the acting Command CivilEngineer.

Col Connie J. Carmody, formerly theHQ Air Force Space Command CivilEngineer, Peterson AFB, CO, is nowDirector of Mission Support for HQAFSPC. Col Gordon R. Janiec, formerly theAFSPC Deputy Civil Engineer, is now theAFSPC Civil Engineer.

Col Edmond B. Keith, formerly the89th Mission Support Group commander,

Andrews AFB, MD, will be on boardas the new Air Force Special Opera-tions Command Civil Engineer Aug.1. Colonel Keith replaces Col Rich-ard P. Parker, who retired in March.

The Air Force Civil EngineerSupport Agency and the Air ForceCenter for Environmental Excellencewill both come under new leadership

Key CE Personnel Changesthis summer. Mr. Gary M. Erickson, amember of the Senior ExecutiveService and Director of AFCEE, willretire July 22 after 30 years in federalservice. Change of command at HQAFCESA will take place Aug. 1, as ColBruce R. Barthold relinquishescommand of the Agency to Col Guy G.Elliott, Jr. and retires from active duty.

Gregory E. RussellEdward SanchezJoseph P. SchuchKenneth J. ShominBruce D. SmallsSteven A. SmithAnthony C. SmithwickRobert A. StoverEric A. TurnerRobin F. VersaillesRandall S. VisCarl W. WaltersClaudette Watler-HallLewis H. Weaver Jr.Ronald WesterfieldRichard A. WidmarkEdward D. WilkinsonTony L. WilliamsRichard WilliamsonGeorge J. Wong

The REDHORSE Associationis holding a RED HORSE reunionin New Orleans, LA, Aug. 10-13,at the Double Tree Hotel. Thisyear�s reunion is hosted by alumniof the 554th RED HORSESquadron. The guest speaker at theofficial reunion banquet on Aug. 12will be retired Brig Gen David O.Swint. Reservations can be made atthe Double Tree Hotel at a rate of$79 per night, phone 800-222-8733. Be sure to mention that youare with RED HORSE when youregister. For more reunion informa-tion visit the reunion website at

RED HORSE Reunion slated for Augusthttp://redhorsereunions.tripod.com orcontact Don Averett, phone 251-649-7165.

The Association has also joinedwith Turner Publishing Company topublish a commemorative history ofRED HORSE. Current REDHORSE members and alumni areencouraged to submit their personalexperiences, stories and photographsfor inclusion. For more information,contact the REDHORSE Associa-tion, 7739 Raleigh St., WestminsterCO 80030-4587, phone 303-650-1215.

AIR FORCE CIVIL ENGINEER 35AIR FORCE CIVIL ENGINEER 35

The 437th CES supports the East Coast C-17 airlift mission, critical to Air Forceoperations around the globe. The �CE Outlaws� are responsible for maintaining,repairing, designing and constructing facilities at Charleston AFB and six remote sites inSouth Carolina. This includes maintaining 6,500 acres, 4.3 million square feet offacilities, 3.6 million square yards of pavements and 1,374 family housing units. Thesquadron plays a key role in Charleston AFB mission readiness, providing fireprotection emergency services, air crash and rescue, emergency medicaloperations, disaster preparedness and explosive ordnance disposal response formore than 12,000 military, civilian and family members while maintaining a top-notchenvironmental program.

Recent Accomplishments:Recent Accomplishments:Recent Accomplishments:Recent Accomplishments:Recent Accomplishments: The 437th CES has made giant strides in providingworld-class facilities to enhance CAFB�s C-17 mission. The squadron constructed a $9million Supply Mobility warehouse to consolidate wartime team kit storage, captured$16.5 million in Defense Logistics Agency fuels projects to increase fuel storagecapacity 190 percent, and teamed with the U.S. Navy to execute more than $20million in base construction. The Operations Flight completed more than 16,000facility work requests, renovating four key facilities in-house and saving more than$320,000. In addition to facility improvements, the unit boosted quality of life bycompleting construction on 140 homes, designing a $12.5 million project torenovate 134 additional homes and upgrading 16 playgrounds in family housing tomeet national safety standards.

While deployed, the 437th CES supported Operation ENDURING FREEDOM � leadinga combined force of 190 engineers in setting up a bare base in just three days toprepare for the first bombing campaign in Afghanistan. The massive 1,500-personbeddown transformed a 100-acre site into a fully functional air base with 220 tents,330 facilities and $24 million in Harvest Falcon assets.

Recent Awards:Recent Awards:Recent Awards:Recent Awards:Recent Awards: The 437th CES�s amazing performance regularly results in thesquadron receiving awards at the wing, numbered air force, Air Mobility Command,Air Force and Federal levels. The unit received the Curtin Award in February 2002 asthe �Most Outstanding Large Civil Engineer Unit� in the Air Force. The Operations Flightwas named #1 in both AMC and the Air Force for 2002. The Environmental Flight wasnamed #1 in AMC and #2 in the Air Force in 2002 and the EOD Flight was named #1in AMC for the second year in a row.

Additionally, the squadron is home to one of the Air Force�s 12 OutstandingAirmen of the Year and won four separate 2002 General Thomas D. WhiteEnvironmental Awards and seven separate 2002 Annual AMC individual awards. Theunit earned one of only 12 2002 National Energy Saver Awards for a $9.8 millionfamily housing geothermal heating and cooling project (which had resulted in a 33percent energy reduction) and garnered one of only four National Coastal AmericaPartnership Awards for executing an artificial reef project.

Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit:Parent Unit:437th Airlift Wing(Air Mobility Command)

Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Locat ion:Charleston Air Force Base, SC

Commander:Commander:Commander:Commander:Commander:Lt Col Maria J. Dowling

Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:Assigned Personnel:265 military and 135 civilians

Squadron Nickname:Squadron Nickname:Squadron Nickname:Squadron Nickname:Squadron Nickname:CE Outlaws

36 SPRING 2003

Documents

AF Civil Engineer magazine, Summer 2003...Summer 03 • Volume 11 • Number 2 The Civil Engineer Maj Gen L. Dean Fox AFCESA Commander Col Bruce R. Barthold Chief, Professional Communications