Deployed Airmen build a better life in Kyrgyzstan

  • Published
  • By Holly J. Logan
  • 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) --  Airmen deployed from the 78th Civil Engineer Group and 778th Civil Engineer Squadron here have their hands full.

Nearly 100 Airmen from the two units have been working up to 16 hours a day, maintaining facilities and providing engineering design and construction for more than $35 million in new facilities at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan.

In-flight emergencies and other projects have also kept the units’ firefighters and explosive ordnance disposal crews just as busy, officials said.

Chief Master Sgt. Eric Hogan, chief of operations for the 376th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, and other Airmen who work with him have been maintaining airfield lighting, installing electrical systems and building a 6,000-square-foot fabric shelter for equipment maintenance since they arrived a month ago.

The Airmen are working to turn temporary shelters into permanent structures. This includes building 20 dormitories with 1,000 rooms to replace tents that Airmen once lived in there.

"We're here to support the flying mission," Chief Hogan said. "We make sure the planes can launch and recover on time, and that people have all the comforts of home (so they can be rested) to fight the war."

Working in a foreign environment presents new challenges not faced at home, said Capt. Ken Herndon, the squadron's engineering flight chief.

"Local contractors' capabilities and the availability of materials are two of the biggest challenges we're dealing with," the captain said. "It's taking up to six months to get materials for projects that could've been done by now in the (United States). We constantly have to be creative and work through all the logistical problems that come our way."

Even with the obstacles of insufficient materials and equipment, Chief Hogan said the deployment has brought him closer to the people in his squadron.

"I particularly enjoy it because (we) get to know each other better," he said. "(Back home), you get the job done and go home. But here, you don't have that luxury. When the job is done, you are 'home' and so you get to know each other better."