Keeping cool requires hard work

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. J. LaVoie
  • 506th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  Maslow’s hierarchy of needs states that basic human needs include food and shelter. For Airmen here, one more thing can be added to the list -- air conditioning.

With temperatures soaring above 120 degrees during summer here, Airmen, Soldiers and their equipment all need the cool breeze created by the heating, ventilation and air conditioning section.

“If they didn’t have air conditioning -- a lot of equipment that needs a controlled environment wouldn’t work,” said Airman 1st Class Jason Klingman of the 506th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron. “It would be a miserable deployment.”

This equipment includes e-mail servers that must be shut down once they reach 90 degrees, as well as telephone systems and some command post equipment. However, equipment is not HVAC’s only concern.

“If we weren’t here everyone would fall out from heat exhaustion. We keep people cool so they can perform the mission,” said Tech. Sgt. Keith Mitchell, 506th ECES. “If you’re working in a 120-degree environment, everything goes slower. Air conditioning helps people do their jobs.”

HVAC Airmen work continuously to ensure people have the air conditioning they need.

Air-conditioning units are only meant to cool the room temperature 20 degrees cooler than the outside air, said Staff Sgt. Eric Haynes. Because most Airmen want their work centers and living areas even cooler, this creates more work for more than 1,500 air conditioning units the HVAC Airmen are responsible for.

“When people set their air conditioning units colder, it causes them to work 24/7 to try and get the area cold,” Sergeant Hicks said. “The equipment doesn’t get any rest and that causes it to burn out.”

The Airmen’s biggest obstacle is not the heat however, it is the dust.

“The dust and dirt get into the equipment and makes it hard for the equipment to stay running,” said Tech. Sgt. Keith Mitchell, also with the 506th ECES. “The No. 1 thing customers could do to help themselves is clean the filters.”

Dirty filters causes the compressors in air conditioning units to work harder.

“A simple fix can prevent a major problem,” Airman Klingman said.