Rapid Recovery Operations

Photo By Maren Kazin | Airmen climb through hillside looking for aircraft debris (CE Weekly photo by Maj Hans Winkler)  

GERMANY

05.18.2020

Courtesy Story

Headquarters Air Force, Office of the Director of Civil Engineers

CE Weekly Submission by Maj Hans Winkler, 52 CES //

“Endex…endex…endex.” For every engineer who has ever been stationed on the Korean Peninsula, that simple phrase is typically music to the ear. However, in the case of an October 2019 readiness exercise conducted at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, that magical phrase was just the beginning of a month-long recovery effort.

The base had just begun a four-day military exercise in which the mighty members of the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron were set to build upon the “Salty Demo” legacy by focusing on Rapid Airfield Damage Repair (RADR) and other critical wartime tasks. Unfortunately, the real world had different plans.

On the very first day of the exercise, an F-16 pilot ejected safely after experiencing an unrecoverable cascading power failure during inclement weather. This caused the Fighting Falcon to crash shortly after take-off on an unpopulated and remote forested German hillside.

During the initial response by Fire, Emergency Management, and Explosive Ordinance Disposal experts, engineers established the Incident Command Structure (ICS). In coordination with German initial responders, engineers cordoned off the impacted area in order to provide more protection to the local populace while simultaneously securing the downed Air Force asset. The Incident Commander (IC) immediately knew this would be no easy task. Luckily, the Gulf War era fighter crashed away from the local village, and although there were no injuries or fatalities for responders to contend with, all that was left of the once-glorious fighter was a debris field that covered more than twenty acres as a result of its rapid decent to the ground.

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was already in high gear and immediately began to push the resources requested by the IC for the initial response force. Although the effects of recent heavy rains helped to mitigate fire concerns at the crash site, it had the reverse effect on allowing access to the impacted area. The crash site was located about half a mile into the dense forest and could only be accessed through an unimproved hunting dirt trail. After the first day of initial response, the trail started to degrade quickly. Over the next two weeks it rained every day, turning the only option to access the crash site into a muddy, soupy mess that would bring the whole recovery effort to a halt if engineers couldn’t stabilize it for aircraft recovery.

Engineers quickly exceeded the organic capabilities needed to haul and spread gravel for the 20 mile round-trip from the installation to the crash site. Fortunately, Spangdahlem Air Base had recently received RADR equipment that was perfectly suited for these type of operations. Engineers worked quickly with the Logistics Readiness Squadron to mobilize light carts, tracked bobcats, and dump trucks that enabled Dirt Boyz to transport and spread gravel non-stop for seven days to stabilize the trail. During this time, engineers were also tackling the tangle of 100 foot-tall downed trees. They worked to cut down dangerous trees still hanging precariously in the area. Like a giant game of pick-up sticks, engineers cleared over two acres to enable follow-on debris recovery personnel to access the area.

The recovery personnel spent four days filling 16 custom made 4x4x4 plywood boxes with a collection of random components. This crash produced a plethora of smaller parts due to the entry angle on the hillside and the trees combining together, acting like a cheese shredder for the once proud F-16. With the use of the mobilized RADR tracked wheeled bobcats, the recovery team was able to transport and stage material collection boxes a half mile into the woods. Wing debris collection volunteers were then able to empty their buckets into the boxes once they became full and allow transport back to base for the safety investigation board.

After 24 days of battling weeklong stretches of non-stop rain, thick forests of toppled trees, and steep mud soaked hills, the mighty members of the 52nd Fighter Wing had completed the task at hand.

Engineers leveraged new RADR capabilities and assets but, built this success upon guiding principles passed down from decades of civil engineering experience. One lesson learned from Salty Demo was that Engineers can keep a base in the fight, but the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron added a little bit more to that legacy by proving that Engineers can also surge when called upon to get the mission back to normal operations after a major incident.

It is no modest boast by the 52nd CES…Can Do, Will Do, Have Done!

About the Authors:
• Maj Hans Winkler is currently the 52d Civil Engineer Squadron Operations Flight Commander at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany
• SMSgt Jason Collins is currently the 52d Civil Engineer Squadron Operations Flight Superintendent at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany
• SMSgt Damian Davies is currently the 52d Civil Engineer Squadron Operations Flight Heavy Repair Element Superintendent at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany

• Date Taken: 05.18.2020
• Date Posted: 05.18.2020 11:57
• Story ID: 370211
• Location: DE