Civil engineers build Iraqi base

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Don Perrien
  • 407th Air Expeditionary Force Public Affairs
TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  Everything that does not move is covered in a grayish-brown, powdery dust. The heat is oppressive -- more than 120 degrees in the shade. Open fields and roads bear craters large enough to swallow small trucks.

In March, the area around Tallil Air Base looked more like the surface of the moon than the bustling tent city and flightline area standing today. After the base fell to coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the landscape was desolate, save a few abandoned buildings, many of which still had extensive damage remaining from the first Gulf War.

The task of transforming this uninhabitable stretch of desert brushland into an operational air base fell on the 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron. In the past four months, the people assigned to the unit have moved more than 9,500 truckloads of fill dirt, assembled more than 350,000 square feet of facilities, trenched more than 40,000 feet of electrical cable and buried more than five miles of underground water pipe.

"Our biggest challenge was our heavy equipment when we first got to Tallil," said Lt. Col. Richard Gustaf, 407th ECES commander. "When we were in the process of moving that 9,500 truckloads of dirt, the trucks started breaking down at about the 4,000 truckload point. That was by far our biggest issue when we first got here. But we got through it."

Another big issue early on was finding, processing and distributing enough water to support the base.

"We built the largest water plant for an Air Force installation in the area of responsibility," Gustaf said. "We became so innovative, we were even able to bring an old Iraqi water tower back on line for our installation."

With the landscape prepared and the water and electricity being delivered, engineers focused on building the facilities that make up Tallil AB.

"When we got here in mid-April, the first phase of construction was still being laid out," said Chief Master Sgt. Greg Miller, 407th ECES structures flight superintendent. "There wasn't a dining hall, we were eating (meals ready to eat) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some of us slept on cots at the CE compound, and building materials were really scarce."

Miller said the squadron kept building and expanding the base, even through the difficult times.

"You couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with, as far as civil engineering goes," Miller said. "This group hit the ground running, and (hasn’t) really ever let up. We've built everything for everybody, from sunshades for the A-10s on the flightline to the chow hall we use now. We're even starting work on a (base exchange) building here in tent city to make this place as good as we can for the folks deployed here."

The men and women of the 407th ECES pride themselves on their ability to make something out of nothing, but their talent was put to the test during the first month of their deployment. The unit arrived almost a full month ahead of their equipment and materials, yet still managed to piece together the major landmarks on the Tallil landscape.

"Early on, it was tough working without a lot of the stuff you're used to having back at your home base," said Staff Sgt. Patrick Ellingson, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning technician with the 407th ECES. "For the first three weeks, we were fixing (air conditioners) with just a Leatherman multi-tool."

Providing air conditioning to critical facilities was one of the first priorities of the deployed civil engineers. Even though the unit arrived before the warmest part of the Iraqi summer, the 100 degree-plus temperatures were a challenge that had to be overcome for the base's mission to be successful.

"Our first couple of weeks here, the temperatures weren't as high as they are now," Ellingson said. "But it was still over 100 degrees in the afternoon, and some of our critical-needs facilities such as the Predator control facilities and medical areas had to be taken care of quickly. Once we got those taken care of, we could focus on making the rest of the base better."

According to Ellingson, life in Tallil's tent city and work areas used to be a bit more dusty and difficult.

"I remember not too long ago, we only got showers once every other day," he said. "We did that for about a month, maybe a month and a half. Let's just say the people coming in on this rotation will have it a lot better than we had it then."

Ellingson and a large number of the 407th ECES are in the proccess of rotating back home to South Dakota. The Tallil they leave behind is much different than the one they arrived at. The outside temperatures are still hot and the dust is still here, but the landscape does not look as barren as the moon anymore.

"I hope the people coming in have an appreciation for what's been done here," Miller said. "It's easy to take the little things like running water and air conditioning for granted, but without the hard work of the folks in this squadron, none of it would be here at Tallil now."