Heavy equipment operators gets down, dirty

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Andrew Gates
  • 455th Expeditionary Operations Group Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) --  Although their primary mission is to maintain the runway here, the heavy-equipment Airmen find much of their work involves dirt -- moving it, smoothing it and grading it.

It is a dirty job, but someone has got to do it.

“We’re here to make sure the runway stays open,” said Staff Sgt. John Wininger, one of the self-proclaimed “Dirt Boys” of the 455th Expeditionary Support Squadron civil engineer flight. “When we don’t need to make repairs, we work on other projects to build up the base’s long-term infrastructure.”

The Soviet-era runway here is somewhat cobbled together, said Airman 1st Class John Renner. “We do the best we can to keep it under control.”

The civil engineer flight has a team on call around the clock to fix the runway, or repair any damage to it from attack. Since civil engineers own the real estate, they become rather protective of it.

“A lot of people don’t like to hear us say this, but we own the runway,” said Sergeant Wininger. “We just let other people use it.”

For the most part, though, the day-to-day activities of the heavy-equipment section are upgrading the Air Force compound and providing people with the necessities they need. Sometimes this involves acting as plumbers or heating and air-conditioning repairmen.

“We don’t have a lot of CE specialties deployed with us, so we find ourselves taking care of the jobs other specialties normally do,” said Airman Renner. “If a job comes into civil engineering and nobody knows who is supposed to do it, we normally get the opportunity to take care of it.”

Some of their key responsibilities involve pouring concrete, or more specifically, preparing the ground to pour concrete, removing debris and leveling the ground. So far, their projects have included pouring 800 cubic meters of concrete for a petroleum, oil and lubricant parking area and setting up the ground for a new communication tower for an air traffic control radar system.

Often, this means working with various other base agencies. The Airmen have worked with a Korean concrete pouring team as well as with the Slovaks, Polish and the Army civil engineers.

“This helps everyone out on bigger projects,” said Sergeant Wininger. “We have the heavy equipment and they have the manpower. The opportunity to work with other nations is enjoyable.”

Nevertheless, digging in the dirt in Afghanistan can be somewhat risky. In the past two months, the heavy-equipment team has found nearly a dozen old munitions, ranging from old fuses to rocket payloads and bombs, Sergeant Wininger said.

A long-term plan, such as that for the runway repair military construction project, allows the heavy equipment Airman to remain focused.

“If we know what the base will ‘look’ like in five years, we can more accurately plan what our priorities should be,” Sergeant Wininger said.

To bring that plan into fruition, the Airmen use more than 20 different pieces of ground equipment. Each Airman has different favorite equipment.

“I like the backhoe,” Airman Renner said. “You can do a lot of different operations with it, it’s very versatile. Each time you climb in the cab, it’s a different task.”

On the other hand, Sergeant Wininger prefers the grader.

“It’s more challenging, precision work. You have to get the grade level for roads and pads. You need to set the foundation correctly for a building or road.”

Setting that foundation can be somewhat difficult for the team, as well. The ground is mostly shifting sand, so getting down to solid ground can be challenging.

“You think you have it graded one day, and you come back and find a soft spot,” Airman Renner said.

Not only that, but the arid climate and dry ground tends to pull the water out of the curing concrete quickly, he said.

“We use curing compound and water the ground extensively before we pour to keep it from (drying out) too quickly and becoming weak. After we are done pouring, we keep the concrete hydrated,” Airman Renner said.

Whether building foundations or keeping the runway operational, the team realizes how important they are to the mission.

“The planes couldn’t go anywhere without a runway,” said Airman Renner. “I know everyone says it, but I don’t think there’s any more important job in the Air Force.”

“I’m glad to be here and supporting the mission,” he said. “I’m just out here doing my best to get the job done here.”

Sergeant Wininger agrees.

“It’s such an honor to be here,” he said. “This will probably be the last deployment I have before I retire. This has been a great opportunity to support ongoing operations.”