Gulf War Air Power Survey
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- RED HORSE engineers tackled large and heavy jobs such as the creation of this munitions storage site.
- RED HORSE and Prime BEEF prepared beddown tasks in advance including construction of the blocks of tents above.
- Operations Outside Southwest Asia
- Table 2 USAFE
Base Sustainment Air Force, Army, and Navy engineers began to formulate a base construction policy in September 1990. Two standards applied during Operation Desert Shield: the “initial” standard characterized by austere facilities with minimal engineer construction efforts and intended for use from one to six months, and the “temporary” standard characterized by minimum facilities and intended to increase efficiency of operations for up to twenty-four months. On 6 September 1990, USCINCCENT Logistics adopted the policy in the theater to “build to initial standards. Construction or upgrade to temporary or permanent standards will not be accomplished without the approval of USCINCCENT.”794 A Project Review Working Group chaired by Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Olsen validated requirements and designated priorities for possible RED HORSE support. At the initial meeting in October, the Working Group assigned highest priorities to a munitions storage area at Al Kharj and a munitions haul road at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia for the Army.795 In October, engineers began exploring the possibility of connecting with host nation's commercial power or water systems. Sites without cable to hook to a commercial power source continued using portable or 750kW generators. However, with growing power requirements and a protracting deployment, connection with commercial power became imperative. They began paving roads and walkways, constructing fixed latrines and showers, and preparing their equipment and people for a prolonged deployment. One major problem for sites was the disposal of waste and sewage. Wastewater was distributed either to underground storage tanks and pumped out by contractors or to a gray-water pond for evaporation or absorption. However, some sites with clay-sandy soil and a hard sandstone subbase did not permit absorption. Seeking solutions, engineers constructed lagoon-like systems to pipe the gray water further from the cantonment area and thereby reduce potential health hazards. As the deployment wore on, more permanent designs called for connections to host nation sewage systems. Fire Protection Firefighters established a fire protection capability by assembling vehicles, equipment, and firefighting agents (halon, dry chemical, and aqueous film-forming foam). They assessed the fire protection requirements of the site, evaluated host nation capabilities, and assisted engineers in planning site layouts. Their vehicles arrived from prepositioned storage sites in theater, some from European War Reserves Material storage, and one from Korea. Many of them were not operational, arriving with broken pumps, dry-rotted fan belts and hoses, and few tools, hoses, or firefighting agents. Firefighting agent was not prepositioned and did not come with the vehicles. Empty prepositioned flightline fire extinguishers had to be refilled on the local economy at a much higher cost. Firefighters also encountered problems with connections required to service halon tanks on vehicles, since the threads of U.S.-made vehicles did not match British-made equipment and required fabrication of connectors. As with other combat support areas, communication problems plagued the firefighters in the early weeks of the deployment. It was not until December, when the programmable radios arrived, that the communications shortfalls were remedied. Throughout the deployment, nearly all sites relied to some extent on host nation firefighting assistance whose capabilities varied from site to site. In the early weeks, Air Force firefighters often shared facilities and equipment with host nation firefighters.796 52
Prime BEEF firefighters establish a fire protection capability by assembling vehicles, equipment, and firefighting agents. The Buildup In November, when President George Bush ordered additional forces to the Persian Gulf region to provide an offensive capability, Air Force operations expanded at several bases with additional planes and people. As many sites stretched to maximum capacity, General Horner requested more bases. For Engineering and Services this meant another push to beddown deploying forces. This time, however, support forces prepared the support structure for the arriving forces. Nearly every existing base added blocks of tents, erected bath houses, and assembled aircraft hangers, general-purpose shelters, and weapons storage areas, connecting them to power sources.797 RED HORSE engineers tackled larger and heavier jobs such as parking ramps and taxiways. At Shaikh Isa Air Base, Bahrain, the project called for constructing two concrete hardstands, 550 by 204 feet and 450 by 240 feet, with aircraft grounds, laying 100-foot-wide asphalt taxitracks around each hardstand, tying taxitracks into the main taxiway, and constructing a 100-foot by 3,200-foot asphalt taxiway running parallel to the northern side of the south loop. They erected 36 revetments for the incoming aircraft. At Al Minhad Air Base UAE, they constructed a 390-foot by 1,050-foot concrete and asphalt parking apron for an additional F-16 squadron.798 At Jeddah, the engineers moved more than 150,000 cubic yards of earth and created more than 400,000 square feet of weapons storage area. The availability of a large-scale construction industry in the region enabled Air Force engineers to complete this type of work on time by contracting it out or by leasing equipment.799 To put more aircraft closer to the Kuwaiti border, Lt. Gen. Charles A. Horner directed his engineers to open two new sites in Saudi Arabia. The first, about 60 miles south of Riyadh near the town of Al Kharj, had been programmed as a massive Saudi military installation, but only a runway, taxiway, and parking apron had been constructed. This project presented one of the biggest challenges facing Air Force engineers during the war. On 12 November, RED HORSE accepted overall responsibility for construction, and the 4th Civil Engineer Squadron (CES) and other engineering personnel would augment them. The squadron would operate and maintain the base after completion. On 25 November, RED HORSE and Prime BEEF and contractor personnel went to work. The engineers built a pad 12 inches thick, compacting more than 200,000 cubic yards of red clay to serve as the foundation for a tent city. Eventually, 630 TEMPER tents, 4 kitchens, a gymnasium, 21 latrines, and 26 shower and shave units were erected. They constructed a sanitary system, and a power plant of seventeen 750kW turbine generators, assembled an air-transportable hospital, and built 6 K-span structures. Al Kharj was ready for aircraft in early January, and by the beginning of the war, the base was home to 4,900 Air Force personnel.800 53
such as the creation of this munitions storage site. At the same time, another RED HORSE team was busy building a forward operating location only 50 miles from the Iraqi border at King Khalid Military City (KKMC), Saudi Arabia. This was initially planned as a small, 800-person site with a quick turn-around capability for aircraft flying missions to Iraq and Kuwait and to recover damaged aircraft. This required the installation of aircraft arresting barriers and an expanded fire response capability. The base continued to expand until it reached a population of 1,650 in mid-January and nearly 2,000 in February 1991. Once hostilities began, Khalid was prohibited from using contract employees because of security concerns, which caused a number of problems. One problem at Khalid was airfield lighting. After two air- craft crashed trying to locate the airfield in dense fog, the engineers set up a remote area lighting system for approach, but it was not until February 1991 that a strobe light set was available for installation. RED HORSE also had to complete integrated combat turn-pads on 17 January.801 54
in advance including construction of the blocks of tents above. One of the outstanding engineering accomplishments of the war was the construction of more than seven linear miles of revetment at King Fahd. The effort paid dividends when a missile on a parked A-10 accidently fired into a revetment wall. The aluminum revetment stopped the missile and prevented damage to aircraft parked nearby.802 Also, when several collapsing bunkers at different bases killed American military personnel, prompting CENTAF Engineering to issue guidance to all units, including the U.S. Army, on techniques for constructing personnel bunk- ers. Apparently, the weight of sandbags piled on plywood or a 463L pallet roof collapsed the bunker and suffocated the inhabitants.803 During the buildup, mortuary affairs people continued to acquire refrigerated trailers, transfer cases, human remains pouches, fingerprint kits, and related materials. Major Howell and the CENTAF Mortuary Assistance Team visited twenty sites to provide training, answer questions, and distribute mortuary supplies and equipment. By 15 January 1991, the teams had processed forty-nine remains. The one issue that was never satisfactorily resolved, however, was the disposition of nuclear, biological, or chemically contaminated remains.804 Operations Outside Southwest Asia Air Force Engineering and Services personnel also deployed in Turkey, Spain, the Indian Ocean, England, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, and within the United States. Torrejon Air Base, Spain, and Rhein Main Air Base, Germany, served as major transit bases for deploying to and from Southwest Asia. Rhein Main engineers redesigned the hydrant system enabling them to double the refueling capacity by using more trucks over a shorter distance.805 The demands placed upon U.S. Air Force, Europe (USAFE) stopover bases stressed their base-level services functions to unprecedented levels. Table 2 illustrates the substantial billeting demands placed upon USAFE bases. Rhein Main and Torrejon both constructed tent cities to handle the flow of people. At Moron Air Base, Spain, rooms intended to house two people were packed with as many as six. Air crews, however, were given priority for on-base quarters because of crew rest requirements.806 Table 2 USAFE Billeting Support807
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