Tech Orders,

File: aacep_23.txt
Page: 23
Total Pages: 59

NAB, Louisiana, and units from the U.S. Army 101st and 82nd
Airborne. The first engineers at King Fahd from Myrtle Beach
supported the Air Force units with the available manpower and
resources, but often found themselves caught between two wing
commanders. The two commands set themselves up in separate living
and c s which contributed to unit integrity, but led
to inefficiencies for the tent cities and rivalries between the two
commands.48 At shaikh Isa AB, Bahrain, the 831st Civil Engineers
were surprised to find a u. s . Marine Air Wing already ensconced on
the base. The two services bad to come to an agreement on
locations for the respective tent cities and operational areas.
Complicating the relations was a fundamental difference in air base
operability. The Air Force preferred to disperse its aircraft,
to protect it from attack. The Marines used a "carrier mentality" of gathering its aircraft in a few locations to protect them.
Perhaps the biggest constraint on E & S activities in the first days and weeks of the deployment was the weather. These
beddown activities occurred in conditions that most Prime BEEF and
RIBS teams had never before encountered. At many sites along the
Persian Gulf, they worked in not only 100+ temperatures, but also
stifling humidity. This required the engineers to adjust their
work schedule to avoid in the heat of the afternoon.
Working at night presented safety challenges to ensure that
accidents did not occur from working in unlighted areas. Services
personnel had to work around the clock to feed the base population
in the early weeks of the beddown. Because the engineers were
required to do physical labor in the direct sun and food service
personnel had to work around ovens, special precautions had to be
obverved . In the first few weeks when there was so much to be done and
everyone was anxious to work, commanders had to force their
personnel to take frequent breaks and drink plenty of water. At
nearly every site troops passed out because of overwork and heat
exhaustion. The heat made it difficult to work outside, but also
made it impossible to touch any metal object without gloves. The
heat also affected such items as copper pipe. Plumbers had to
allow for extra metal expnsion in the extreme heat or risk popping
a faucet right out of the wall. At sites with bladder storage, hot
water was not a problem. Some type of covering was required to
shelter the bladders from the sun to prevent the water from
becoming too hot.50
In spite of the obstacles described above, Engineering and
Services successfully bedded down the deploying aircraft and people
in expediently constructed facilities. General Horner had a
constellation of bases available throughout the region to carry out
air operations. E & S had created the conditions to give the
pilots and aircrews the best chance for success.

Host Natlon Support

The availability and dependence on host nation support flavored the Air Force's deployment to SWA.51 E&S personnel