Red Horse Airmen keep Afghan supply lanes open

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Andrew Schmidt
  • 451st Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFPN) --  The sight of a C-17 Globemaster III coming in for a landing here can be awe-inspiring. The 174-foot-long transport drops from the sky in an instant. Its thrust-reversing engines create a thunderous sound that lets all around know it has landed.

More importantly, with a payload of up to 170,900 pounds, its vital cargo keeps both Soldiers and Airmen at this austere location supplied.

However, with the good comes the bad. The C-17 and other heavy aircraft cause tremendous stress on a runway such as the one here. The 40-year-old runway has weathered its share of history, but it received almost no maintenance until after the U.S. arrival in 2001.

The constant stress of heavy landings, often in 125-degree heat, make the runway susceptible to spalls, cracks and potholes that can shut it down for hours, which also means losing access to a vital supply lane.

Despite the nonstop pounding, the 451st Civil Engineer Squadron has managed to keep the runway open -- and south Afghanistan supplied -- through hard work, innovation and a lot of sweat.

“Our biggest challenge is getting materials,” said Capt. Reid Matsuda, 451st Civil Engineer Flight commander. “We can’t keep a stockpile of materials because of how far out of the way we are. As soon as we get supplies, we use them.”

Because of the importance of keeping the airfield open, downtime is not allowed. Civil engineers must be ready to go out and work furiously at a moments’ notice, even in the scalding Kandahar sun.

“We keep materials available in the back of a response vehicle so that we can go right out and fix spalls as soon as they happen,” Captain Matsuda said. “Everything is done by hand -- there is no way that you can get heavy equipment on such an old runway without causing more damage. And we have to saw-cut everything with a hand-held concrete saw.”

All materials have to be removed by hand as well, he said.

The stifling heat and extreme dryness pose other problems. As soon as concrete is mixed, it dries almost instantly, making the use of spinning barrels impossible.

“We have to mix everything in 5-gallon buckets and pour it straight into the hole,” he said. “There’s no other way to do it.”

Until the runway reconstruction is finished in early 2006, civil engineers will have to continue to “improvise, adapt and overcome” here. Recently, when paint-striping equipment broke down after the flight was tasked with repainting runway lines, the Airmen painted the 3,500 feet by hand, using only rollers and duct tape, and had the job completed in only two days.

Besides the $36.2-million runway reconstruction project, new ramps are being built by the 1st Expeditionary Red Horse Group deployed here. The group has been excavating soil and pouring concrete around the clock to provide parking for aircraft.

These ramps will be used by Afghan civilian aircraft by the end of the year, said Col. Eric Vollmecke, 451st Air Expeditionary Group commander. Such projects are an example of how civil engineers and Red Horse Airmen are helping to link the country to the rest of the world, he said.

“What I’ve been so impressed about the Red Horse guys is that they can all do pretty much everything,” Colonel Vollmecke said. “As a pilot, I admire their ability to jump from one piece of equipment to another and make it happen.

“What these two units are doing is a perfect example of how a support unit can be absolutely key to mission accomplishment,” he said. “Nearly all of our supplies are airlifted in. It is absolutely critical for us to be able to provide support the Army, especially in this time of heavy combat. When you look at the impact that just a handful of guys are having on the mission -- it’s amazing."