Tech Orders,

File: aacep_35.txt
Page: 35
Total Pages: 59
      





           - 35
      
      sanitary system, a power plant using fifteen 750KW turbine
      generators' assembled an air-transportable hospital, and built six
      K-span structures. The base was ready to accept the al~craft in
      early January. fly the beg nnlng of the war, Al Khacj was home to
      4900 A1r Force personnel.
      About the same time that Al Khacj was being constructed'
      another RED HORSE team was building a forward operating location
      only fifty mi]eG from the Iraqi border at King Phalli Milltary Clty
      (KK~C j e This was lnitIalIy planned as a small 800-person site with
      limited turn around capability for al~craft flying mlsslons to Iraq
      and Kuwait. However, the base continued to expand until it reached
      a population of 1650 in mid-January and nearly 2000 in February.
      The construction effort was slowed by the constantly changing scope
      of the base, the unrellablllty of contractor assistance' the
      presence of the U.S. Army, and the remote location. KEMC was
      prohibited from using contract employees because of security
      concerns. This reduced ServIces ability to provide customer
      services found at most other sites. Because of their forward
      location, A Rations were not available from the local economy.
      KKMC relied almost exclu~lvely on B Rations. However, the
      abilities of the cooks to prepare them in a palatable manner made
      them acceptable to the base population.
      One of the c~ltical elements that continued to be a problem at
      K~MC until the beginning of the air war was airfield lighting.
      After two aircraft crashed trying to locate the airfield in dense
      fog, the engineers set up a remote area lighting system as
      expedient approach lights. It was not until February that a strobe
      light set was available for RED HORSE to install. RED HORSE also
      had to complete integrated combat turn pads on 17 January after the
      contractors left the base when the war began.
      The bases had prepared for war in a variety of ways' depending
      upon the threat. The northern bases such as King Fahd had begun
      preparing for war from the early days of the deployment. The
      engineers provided personnel protection, sectionalized the base for
      bomb damage repair and established teams to conduct those
      operations' dispersed rapid runway repair (RRR) kits' developed a
      base blackout plan' and reveled critical facilities. One of the
      outstanding engineering accomplishments of the war was the
      construction of more than seven linear miles of revetment at King
      Fabd. The effort paid dividends whey a missile on a parked A-10
      fired into a revetment wall. The aluminum revetment stopped the
      missile and prevented damage to the aircraft parked nearby. For
      RRR, the engineers relied on AM-2 matting. The recently-developed
      folded fiberglass matting was shipped to the tbeater and dispersed
      
      - Engineers developed some ingenious methods of personnel and
      facility protection. At King Fahd' the engineers buried Sea-vans
      to create survivable recovery centers and disaster control centers.
      Pire vehicles were dispersed and backed into dug-out areas to
      protect them. Of course, sand bags were everywhere.
      Unfortunately, several incidents of collapsing personnel bunkers
      killed American military personnel. CENTAF/~E sent out guidance to