Photo By Sgt. Christopher Brecht | U.S. Airmen assigned to the 1st Expeditionary Civil Engineering Group fill trenches...... read more read more
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A U.S. Air Force C-130J landed at Qayyarah-West airbase Oct. 21 marking the culmination of one of the largest and most expeditious airfield repair operations in modern U.S. military history.
Qayyarah-West, or Q-West, is an airfield in northern Iraq’s Ninawa Province and will serve as a logistical hub and strategic launching pad for resupplying the frontlines in the offensive to recapture Mosul from Da’esh fighters. It will also serve as a critical casualty evacuation point for Iraqi and Coalition forces fighting in northern Iraq.
The Iraqi military seized control of the key airbase earlier this year after it had fallen to Da’esh in 2014.
After its recapture, engineers assigned to the 1st Expeditionary Civil Engineer Group were assigned the mission to recover the destroyed airfield and make it ready to support the Mosul offensive.
Specifically, the 1st ECEG engineers were to repair the runway damage caused by Da’esh over the last two years and create a minimum operating strip for Iraqi and Coalition C-130 aircraft within only three weeks.
“Logistical support is a critical component of our overall Coalition airpower strategy to assist our Iraqi partners to liberate Mosul. No other military in the world could have moved so much so fast,” said Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command. “What the team did to repair and reopen Q-West is nothing short of remarkable.”
The terrorist organization detonated explosives creating craters in the runway and used an excavator with a hammer attachment to damage the runway, breaking it up into trenches spanning the entire length of the runway and all taxiways.
Using aerial imagery and an off-runway damage assessment, the engineers systematically identified the optimal MOS and estimated repair material. Because of the extremely tight timeline, establishing a concrete batch plant and using traditional airfield pavement repair methods were not possible.
The logistics team had to move 1.9 million pounds of newly fielded Air Force airfield damage repair rapid set concrete and flowable fill, as well as specialized heavy equipment.
In a three-week period and multiple times under hostile fire, 29 Airmen from the 1st ECEG utilized the latest in ADR tactics, techniques and procedures to saw cut, excavate, compact and cap with rapid set concrete over 60 trenches and craters.
“This operation highlighted our amazing Total Force Airmen, as their can-do attitude under very challenging circumstances was on full display,” said Col. John Tryon, 1st ECEG commander. “This historic engineer mission also validated the recently developed ADR materials and equipment fielded by the Air Force Civil Engineer Center to recover airfields in minimal time to support flying operations.”
Military engineers and logisticians have worked to ensure the airbase can function as a significant throughput point for the Iraqi security forces.
Recently 600 U.S. troops were deployed to Iraq to further enable local security forces to retake Mosul.
Of that contingent, Airmen assigned to the 621st Contingency Response Wing recently arrived to Q-West to conduct air base opening operations in order to enable follow on mobility air forces assets.
As Air Mobility Command’s contingency response experts, 621st CRW Airmen are providing the crucial role of sustaining coalition and Iraq forces conducting counter-Da’esh operations in Mosul.
| Date Taken: | 10.25.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 10.25.2016 03:16 |
| Story ID: | 212803 |
| Location: | QAYYARAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 928 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, Air Force engineers restore Q-West to support Mosul offensive, by Capt. Charles Rivezzo, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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