Deployed airmen getting small-town living

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. A.J. Bosker
  • Air Force Print News
AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar --  Airmen deployed here will soon be saying farewell to their tents and hello to small-town living.

This welcome change for airmen is just part of the transformation of this expeditionary base into a permanent air base with most of the amenities found at home.

“We’re in the process of building a small town, Expeditionary Village, that will be able to house between 5,000 and 6,000 deployed and remotely assigned airmen,” said 1st Lt. Steven Thomas, of the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron.

Airmen will no longer have to endure tent life with minimal privacy and the ever-present Qatari sand getting into everything. They will be living in air-conditioned trailers that will afford them more space and privacy, according to Thomas, the project’s quality-assurance evaluator and base-level liaison officer.

Expeditionary Village will feature improved living accommodations and a variety of morale, welfare and recreation and dining facilities, he said.

Among the facilities airmen can expect to find are weight rooms, basketball courts, sports fields, swimming pools, officer and enlisted clubs, a base exchange, Army and Air Force Exchange Service concessions, an education office and a theater with stadium seating.

“MWR will be outstanding,” Thomas said. “The facilities will be large enough to accommodate everyone without being crowded. They will carry on the tradition of the Wagon Wheel -- the central recreational-gathering place for airmen currently living in tents.”

It will not only be larger, but it will be better, he said.

Thomas said he expects Expeditionary Village to be completed around the first of the year, and airmen will be moving into the new facilities soon after.

“The infrastructure is virtually complete, and we’re in the process now of completing the buildings,” Thomas said.

Construction on the facilities is taking place around the clock, according to Glenn Dimick, Expeditionary Village construction-site manager.

“There are people working both day and night shifts to get the Expeditionary Village completed on schedule.”

The biggest challenges facing construction crews are the hot, humid weather and the gusting desert winds, Dimick said.

“Safety is a top priority,” Thomas said. “Everyone needs to drink plenty of water to endure the heat and humidity, but we also have to pay attention to the strong winds.”

Sudden, strong gusts of wind can be dangerous when workers are trying to install the vertical walls of the buildings, Dimick said. The wind can also tear down the walls that have just been installed, putting construction behind schedule.

“We’re all committed to creating this small town out of the desert, and we’re going to get it done,” Thomas said. “It has taken a lot of planning and patience, but we’re going to do it right and as smoothly as possible. When we’re finished, airmen will be pleased with the new facilities and better living conditions.”

However, Expeditionary Village is just the first step in Al Udeid’s transformation, he said.

“Once we’ve transitioned airmen into Expeditionary Village, work is scheduled to begin on Millennium Village, the truly permanent base facilities,” Thomas explained.

Millennium Village will feature dormitories that airmen find at most Air Force bases, base housing for airmen and their families on remote, accompanied tours and eventually even schools, he said.

While plans for Millennium Village are still being worked, Thomas said he is confident deployed airmen will be pleased with Expeditionary Village’s new facilities and much improved quality of life.