Keesler gets $90 million to repair infrastructure

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RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  The Air Force has distributed nearly $90 million to speed repair of the storm-ravaged infrastructure at Keesler Air Force Base.

Air Force officials estimate Hurricane Katrina caused nearly $1 billion in damage when it swept across the Gulf Coast facility Aug. 29.

“Keesler’s recovery team has done a great job of identifying its areas of greatest need, and the Air Force is moving rapidly to get those projects moving,” said Col. Irvin Lee, head of Air Education and Training Command’s civil engineer response to Hurricane Katrina.

The base suffered extensive damage to its industrial and housing areas, said Maj. Ray Mottley, 81st Civil Engineer Squadron commander at Keesler. The storm pounded Keesler with sustained 110-mile-per-hour winds and basewide flooding that reached as high as 6 feet in many areas.

“More than $63 million has been distributed to Air Force, Navy and base contract service agents to fund immediate repair and renovation of key … facilities,” said Dennis Guadarrama, AETC’s technical training engineering branch chief. “We have contractors on site now with reconstruction work being directed by Keesler officials.”

Another $33 million will go toward repairing damage to Keesler’s military family housing. Base officials estimate the damage to 1,588 family housing units could exceed $299 million.

“Nearly all the military family housing units have some damage,” said Michael Reese, Keesler’s housing manager. “But the amount of damage varies, and some of the units are livable.”

Nearly 400 servicemembers returned to their base homes recently. About 80 had homes so severely damaged that they received other homes.

Though the Air Force moved quickly to fund initial infrastructure repairs, expeditionary engineers responded even faster.

Working with Air Force experts in infrastructure repair and reconstruction, the 81st Training Wing recovery team has made the base runways and roads operational.

Now Keesler can meet its needs for electricity, sewage and refuse disposal. And it has limited, but not functional, capability for grounds maintenance, custodial services, housing maintenance and natural gas supply. Base officials said the base water system maintained integrity throughout the storm.

Among the first expeditionary engineers on scene were:

-- The 823rd Red Horse Squadron from Hurlburt Field, Fla. The unit sent a rapid deployment team of more than 100 people to perform debris removal, facility assessments and utility system repair.

-- A 10-person Air Force contract augmentation program team from the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency at Tyndall AFB, Fla. The team conducted initial damage assessments and expeditionary facility repairs.

-- The civil engineering agency also sent a nine-person maintenance, inspection and repair team to help restore power, and a three-person pavements evaluation team to conduct an airfield pavement assessment.

-- Luke AFB, Ariz., sent a 54-person Prime BEEF engineering team to help base civil engineers with base recovery operations.

-- A six-person firefighting teams arrived from Randolph AFB and Altus AFB, Okla., to provide airfield fire protection for Army helicopter units supporting Joint Task Force-Katrina.

-- AETC headquarters, Hurlburt Field and Eglin AFB, Fla., and Maxwell AFB, Ala., sent a four-person team of housing specialists to assist displaced families.

Additional funding and manpower support is on the way.

“The Air Force is continuing to provide Keesler with the financial and manpower resources it needs to restore the base infrastructure to a level that can sustain its training and humanitarian missions,” Colonel Lee said. “We know this is a marathon, but we have gotten off to a pretty fast start.”