Providing shelter is a BEAR

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jeremy Larlee
  • Air Force News Agency
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFPN) --  Air, water, food and shelter are the basic essentials for life. But when Airmen deploy to an environment where no one has lived before, these essentials need to be brought in.

Anywhere in the world and within a matter of days, a Base Expeditionary Airfield Resource, commonly referred to as a BEAR base, can be placed, prepared and deployed around the world to support combat operations or humanitarian efforts.

There isn't anything like the satisfaction of seeing a shelter being used after a team has just built it, said Master Sgt. Samuel Tran of  the 49th Material Maintenance Group at Holloman Air Force Base.

"You roll out there. You are sweating all day long. Your arms are just dead and your back is aching by the end of the day," he said. "The next morning you find yourself just looking around and being impressed by how much has been done and feeling satisfied that you have provided shelter for so many people." 

A BEAR base can be built at any location with a viable water source and an aircraft runway, Sergeant Tran said. A large variety of different shelters can be built to support different missions. The shelters are also used to store equipment, house aircraft or provide shelter for people.

Members of the 49th Material Maintenance Support Squadron and 49th Material Maintenance Squadron combine forces to make the BEAR program work. Airmen from 36 different career fields are assigned to the squadrons. The support squadron is in charge of maintaining and tracking the large amount of equipment that is stored at Holloman AFB. The maintenance squadron sends trained members across the world to set up the shelters. 

Sergeant Tran has deployed for several of these missions, including one a little bit closer to home. He said one of his most rewarding trips was to support relief operations in Louisiana during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

"I like what I do, I enjoy supporting the flying and combat missions," he said. "But there is something special about helping out your fellow American with the skills you learned in the Air Force. It just shows that we are capable of doing more than just sending bullets down range."

The BEAR program is constantly being improved as well. In addition to testing out the newest equipment, Air Force leaders look at ways to make the program work more efficiently.

The Bear order of battle is one of the improvements developed by Airmen. No two locations are alike and each one has different needs, but in the past equipment was sent to the locations in blanket orders. The problem with this is that it caused redundancies. 

One location may not need as many generators as another location, Sergeant Tran said. The extra generators would just take up space at one location, while they desperately would be needed somewhere else. This also placed an extra burden on the airlift operation. The new program allows customers to order BEAR assets in an a la carte method.

This knocks down the size of the packages sent, which provides relief to airlift operations. It also saves on manpower because members do not have to sift through unnecessary equipment, Sergeant Tran said.

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