387th AEG, partner units complete road construction

SOUTHWEST ASIA –

In addition to the work provided by the 387th Expeditionary Support Squadron civil engineering flight, the group enlisted the help of the 1st Expeditionary Civil Engineering Group, including the 557th RED HORSE for certain tasks requiring heavy equipment.

Tech. Sgt. Lora Ramos, left, and Senior Airman William Klein, right, of the 557th RED HORSE walk down a newly built road at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia Dec. 30, 2016. The 387th Air Expeditionary Group enlisted the help of various squadrons and groups to complete the new road and entry control point in approximately four months. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Andrew Park)

The 387th ESPTS CE flight also worked with the 387th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron on the road project. These squadrons worked together to create a plan for the new road, entry control point, and vehicle search area that would maintain security measures while also remaining within the scope required to complete the project by the host nation’s deadline of Dec. 31.

“Once we identified those initial requirements, there was a lot of planning, coordination and contracting that went into it,” said Capt. Joshua Koenig, 387th ESPTS CE flight officer in charge.

Besides the project’s compressed timeline, the squadrons also had to deal with physical constraints within the new space, which contained underground civilian utilities that could become damaged during the construction, said Capt. Joshua McMath, 387th ESFS operations officer.
“Honestly the biggest challenge for us was finding a way to use the small area that we had available and making it work,” McMath said.

The group worked quickly and was able to not only complete the project by the deadline, but even completed certain elements a few days earlier than expected, Koenig said.

Staff Sgt. Phillip Smith of the 557th RED HORSE drives a front-end loader over a barricade at the new entry control point at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia Dec. 30, 2016. RED HORSE assisted the 387th Expeditionary Support Squadron civil engineering flight with portions of the road project requiring heavy equipment. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Andrew Park)

“We’ve overcome a lot to make this happen in the time frame that the host nation gave us,” said Koenig. “Just today I found out that we’re getting some of the electrical work done that I didn’t expect for a couple more days. I couldn’t be any more proud of all the hard work and dedication that everyone has put into this project.”

McMath was also impressed by how quickly the squadrons were able to complete the work, especially considering this isn’t the first move for the group on this rotation.

“For a security forces unit to move their main entry control point and vehicle search area once in a rotation is a pretty good feat – to do it twice is unheard of,” said McMath. “It’s really been a team effort with civil engineering, security forces, force protection, and contracting. Everybody has come together to make all these projects work.”