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of a combat search and rescue operation.  All support operations were
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Alfred B. Hicks, Bitburg AB's base civil
engineer.  It was the first time these operations were combined in this way,
but it worked extremely well and served as a model for future deployments.
Under bare-base conditions, a fifty man Prime BEEF team from Bitburg AB's 36
CES, led by Captain Darren Daniels, built a 550-person tent city and a command
and support area at the flight line.  Built from scratch, under the worst 
possible conditions, the tent city was completed in just six days.  In keeping
with the unusual name of its location, it was dubbed "Gotham City" by its
creators.  The Bitburg Prime BEEFers maintained "Gotham City" for the duration
of Operation PROVEN FORCE.

At Incirlik AB, an innovative way was devised to protect "Tornado Town"
dwellers against the threat of  Scud missile, aircraft and terrorist attacks.
The tents provided excellent protection from the cold and rain, but not from
Scud missile shrapnel or bomb explosions such as those that resulted from
terrorist activity in Turkey on several instances during PROVEN FORCE.  So,
one corner for entry, and dispersed throughout the tent city.  These
revetments provided refuge from low-angle, high velocity projectiles or
shrapnel in case of attack and would have prevented countless injuries and 
deaths in the event of an explosion near the tent city.

Once family members were evacuated, the Prime BEEF teams received some welcome
help from some of the base housing residents, who voluntarily opened their
homes to deployed personnel, some of whom had been living in tents.  This 
helped reduce the demand on the tent city .  The 377 CEG initially gave their
full attention to the construction of tent cities at Incerlik and Batman, but
the engineers also provided other valuable services.  They provided a small 
tent city for a 100-man Patriot air defense missile battery at an isolated
off-base location, provided various tent structures on the Incirlik AB flight
line to support the crowded flying operations.  Water and waste personnel
troubleshot and repaired a defective water demineralizer and continued to 
produce high-quality demineralized water for the KC-135 aircraft for the
duration of PROVEN FORCE.

377 CEG (Deployed) equipment operators helped transport 98 pieces of heavy
equipment used for rapid runway repair (RRR) from the port of Eskendrum,
Turkey, to Incirlik AB.  They then inspected and readied the equipment for
possible use in repairing the runway, and bought and prepositioned select
fill, equipment and supplies.  Member of the 7002 CES assigned to the 377 CEG
(Deployed) installed a Mobile Aircraft Arresting System (MAAS) at Incirlik AB
and readied another MAAS for possible installation at Adana Civil Airport,
Adana, Turkey.

At Incirlik AB, a new airfield taxiway and parking loop which had been
recently modified did not yet have lights installed.  Because over half of the 
combat operations from Incirlik were taking place at night, lighting was
essential for aircraft safety.  However, there was no time to install electric
lights before combat operations began.  Master Sergeant Wayne Anderson of the
377 CES Exterior Electrics shop proposed the use of a system he had used when
assigned to a CONUS base.  The system was  Federal Aviation Administration
approved and required no electricity--blue reflectors staked into the ground
alongside the taxiway.  The reflectors were obtained by the ESRC and installed

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