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'Bull Pen' Airmen tame wild mission in Kandahar

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Melissa B. White
  • 451st Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  They work in what's called the "Bull Pen." However, someone must keep forgetting to close the gate as these civil engineering Airmen are running lose all across base in constant support of the mission.

"We're really busy here," said Staff Sgt. Alexander Perez, 451st Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron heavy equipment operator. "Teamwork is a huge part of getting stuff done out here. We're all getting pushed outside of our comfort zones and performing tasks we don't usually do at home. It's great learning each other's crafts."

The 451st ECES may consider themselves a small force with a total of 60 Airmen and contractors, but that doesn't make their workload any smaller or less important. With an average of 35 work orders a day and more than 2,000 customers to keep happy on a daily basis, they work day in and day out to complete the tasks at hand.

"This is the smallest squadron I've deployed with, but it's one of the biggest missions I've supported," said Capt. Ray Orr, 451st ECES engineering flight commander, who is on his fourth deployment. "I'm impressed with their workmanship and how they handle the mission. We definitely work as one team supporting a very large wing."

For anything from electrical support to emergency management and everything in between, members of the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing call upon this team when there's a job to be done.

"I like knowing that we supply power for the units out here," said Tech. Sgt. Michael Johnson, 451st ECES electrician. "Everyone always talks about how important the flyers are, but without us they wouldn't have power. That'd be complete mission stoppage right there."

The mission and goal of the squadron is to maintain and repair base infrastructure, support facilities, and to plan and construct to meet new mission requirements. At Kandahar Airfield, there's more involvement with each step as they must acquire land, work with host-nation officials, design, get contracts and then finally build.

"It's a complex environment out here," said Captain Orr, who is deployed here from Scott Air Force Base, Ill. "From dealing with the Army, partner countries, and the overall congestion of KAF, it can be challenging. There are so many missions ... the number of mission here is profound, and there are more coming."

Another challenge for them is keeping up with the plus-up of military members who have been reporting to the base in larger quantities since the surge was announced last year. The bigger challenge is making sure they have a place to live. In July, to alleviate some of the difficulty with finding spaces for the 451st AEW Airmen, the 451st ECES completed building Camp Losano. The camp is an Air Force compound complete with seven relocatable buildings for living quarters and three hardened facilities for administrative areas.

"We're going to be constructing additional billeting for the Air Force in the future because we still have Air Force contractors living in South Park," said the captain, referring to the tent city at the southern end of the base. "There were also times where the 451st Force Support Flight people had a difficult time finding billeting for our Airmen, even in the Army modular buildings, when we were running out of room."

In addition to creating more billeting options, the 451st CES has some upcoming projects, to include creating and widening existing runway access points. They will also be connecting Camp Losano to the main power grid on base to free up some generators and will start building hardened facilities for the 451st Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron so they can have a better environment to care for their patients.

"We grab the bull by the horns and run with it," said Captain Orr. "Give us a problem, and we'll take care of it."