Courtesy Photo | The Airfield Pavement Evaluation team at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center backs the...... read more read more
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As the Department of the Air Force focuses on the Great Power Competition, the Air Force Civil Engineer Center Airfield Pavement Evaluation team is helping keep runways worldwide ready to support the mission.
The 21-member APE team at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, services more than 2 billion square feet of airfield pavement at more than 200 airfields around the globe. By employing advanced evaluation techniques, they assess baseline conditions and identify requirements to keep flightlines safe, resilient and operational.
“Airfields are one of our most important assets, and they’re critical to the success of DAF missions,” said Michael Clawson, AFCEC Asset Visibility Division chief. “Our specialized teams ensure they meet the rigorous standards needed for the Air Force to fly, fight and win.”
In fiscal 2024, the team completed 15 evaluations and plans to evaluate 18 locations in 2025, focusing heavily on the Pacific region. The team also plans to complete further evaluations in partner Pacific nations in early 2026.
“There’s a growing need for evaluations at locations where we don’t have a permanent presence,” said Capt. Benjamin Weaver, chief of the APE branch.
A typical APE installation visit involves a detailed assessment of runways, taxiways and aprons to inspect structural integrity, pavement surface condition, friction and load-bearing capacity, Weaver said.
The team completes evaluations every 10 to 12 years at main operating bases and sustained forward operating locations. This helps installations project the performance of their pavement, providing base planners with essential information for managing maintenance and planning decisions.
The team also conducts contingency airfield evaluations in the combat theater to support aircraft movements that occur outside of routine day-to-day operations. These include requirements ranging from evaluations of non-traditional landing surfaces like dirt strips or roads, to surveys of major international airports being considered for various contingency scenarios.
“We also train units, including those within the RED HORSE (Contingency Response, Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers) and Special Tactics communities, to conduct expedient inspections as required to support aircraft operations within their respective program lanes,” Weaver said.
In the Western Pacific, the team will collect comprehensive data to better understand the baseline capabilities of these airfields and project their readiness to support theater and contingency missions over the coming years.
Many airfields in the region haven’t been adequately maintained in years, making the team’s work more critical than ever to ensure they can support current or future missions, Clawson said.
The Pacific is a key region for national defense priorities, Weaver said, and many of the airfields are located on remote islands, posing a significant challenge.
“The evaluations require careful planning by our team to ensure we deploy equipment and personnel for inspections in a timely manner. While the logistics can be quite complex, our military members and logisticians are extremely efficient in their coordination with mission partners to ensure their effective completion,” Weaver said.
The team has already completed evaluations at Eareckson Air Station and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, both in Alaska.
At JBER they refreshed structural and surface condition data for the strategic airlift hub, crucial for homeland defense and to continue to enable rapid deployment of resources across the Pacific region. Meanwhile at Eareckson, a remote missile defense and surveillance outpost along the Aleutian Islands, the priority was to identify the requirements needed to support passenger and cargo transport operations.
In regions like Alaska and the Pacific, where extreme weather temperatures and heavy rainfall are common, the team also inspects pavements to assess how well they withstand harsh environmental conditions.
The team also uses cutting-edge technology such as a low-frequency ultrasonic tomographer that enables technicians to conduct non-destructive tests to measure concrete pavement thickness.
“What really makes these projects successful is the day-to-day collaboration between the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center’s offices, its Detachments and installations,” Weaver said. “The teamwork keeps our efforts on schedule and helps strengthen our force.”
| Date Taken: | 10.15.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.22.2024 09:47 |
| Story ID: | 483358 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, AFCEC APE team paves way to keep DAF mission in fight, by Mila Cisneros, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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