Airmen move from tents to huts

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Russell Wicke
  • 455th Expeditionary Operations Group Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) --  Airmen here are now in the process of transitioning from living in temper tents to wooden structures called B-huts.

“These semi-permanent timber structures are replacing our tents which have exceeded their life expectancy in this harsh environment,” said Capt. Trey Sledge, 455th Expeditionary Support Squadron civil engineer flight commander. He is deployed from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.

According to Sledge, the huts are an improvement on living standards, and erecting them is cheaper than replacing the tents.

“These huts are designed to last three to four years,” Sledge said. “After that, military operations are expected to move to … more permanent structures.”

The introduction of B-huts to the Air Force Village here offers significant improvement in multiple areas.

The eight-section temper tents being replaced held 16 to 24 airmen, according to Chief Master Sgt. Kenneth McQuiston, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing command chief master sergeant, who is also deployed from Spangdahlem. The new B-huts will only hold eight occupants, allowing larger personal-living space. But because space is limited in Air Force Village, Sledge said some airmen are being double-bunked temporarily to empty tents to make room for hut construction.

Not only will living space be larger, but conditions will also be more comfortable, he said.

“These huts will have hard walls that feature insulation,” McQuiston said. “They will be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.”

The timber walls will also offer more than climate control.

“The biggest advantage of these huts verses tents is the wind factor,” Sledge said. “When the wind starts blowing hard, the tents fly and walls are whipped around, creating a lot of noise and vibration.”

High winds salted with dust occur nearly every day here.

“But we’ll also be able to put up shelves and hang pictures to personalize the space,” he said.

“This will be a huge morale boost once we get everyone in huts,” said Lt. Col. John Doherty, 455th Expeditionary Services Squadron commander who is deployed from the Pentagon. “Each person is expected to have (his or her) own enclosed section by the end of December.”

The road Bagram Air Base is taking to build these huts also offers jobs to the local community.

“The base is contracting the job out to the locals to provide more employment (locally),” McQuiston said.

Not only do the huts improve the lives of deployed airmen, but also the economy here.

“The American way of business is not to conquer countries,” Doherty said, “but to come in and achieve our national objectives, which in this case (are) getting rid of terrorists, and then (leaving) the country in better condition than we found it. Contracting out these jobs is not only a way to improve the economy, but it also sows the seeds of democracy.”

Airmen are witnessing a different type of construction. Although electricity is available on base, the Afghan carpenters erect all the timber structures using only hand tools.

“That’s their method of construction,” Sledge said. “It’s the way they’re used to doing it because there’s not electricity available outside the base.”

But allowing locals access to the base can be a dangerous situation if it is not handled with tight security. Most al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists blend right in with the local people. The Afghan carpenters must go through five security checkpoints before they can even get through the gate, according to Staff Sgt. Kristin Bunn, 455th Expeditionary Operations Group noncommissioned officer in charge of force protection and security program. Even items such as small mirrors are forbidden to prevent signaling from on base.

Once on base, security does not lighten up. These contracted carpenters must be escorted by airmen as long as they are working on the installation.

“Literally every day we have to go to the gate and escort them from the security checkpoints,” said Bunn who is deployed from Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. “It is a requirement to have at least one guard for every 10 workers.”

Before construction even started, the airmen were working with soldiers on a new design for these B-huts, said Master Sgt. Robert Miller, 455th ESS engineering superintendent deployed from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska.

“We wanted upgraded huts from what the Army was using,” Miller said.

The new design features larger living quarters with higher walls and screened windows, McQuiston said.

“Now, our new design for B-huts has been adopted by the Army and the rest of the coalition,” Miller said. “It’s been a long process so far, but it will be worth the wait.”