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BEARS build up the Transit Center at Manas

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Carolyn Viss
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan --  There are BEARS on the Transit Center.

Instead of causing alarm, they're making every Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Marine more comfortable.

They're the Basic Expeditionary Airfield Resources civil engineer team, based out of Southwest Asia and traveling throughout the area of responsibility to build up dome shelters, which house transient members of U.S. and coalition armed forces.

"Manas currently can house a fair amount of transient personnel, and now they will be able to double their ability to house armed forces," said Tech. Sgt. Thomas Sampson, the J2 BEAR team chief.

In just 12 days, Jan. 11 to 23, the BEARs built three 4K dome shelters and two California medium shelters.

"The work ethic, focus, and sense of urgency of the BEAR team has been remarkable," said Col. Thomas Joyce, 376th Expeditionary Mission Support Group commander. "Within hours of arriving here at the Transit Center, they began setting up expeditionary shelters so we can provide the necessary transient lodging space to best support coalition forces on their way to Afghanistan."

Deployed since October 2009 from the 49th Material Maintenance Squadron out of Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., this large structure erection team is the only unit that goes out and sets up large structures of this magnitude throughout the AOR, according to Sergeant Sampson. They consist of a handful of Airmen from various career fields including heating, ventilation and air conditioning; power production; electric; and three different structure career fields.

"I like this job because it gives you a sense of accomplishment, going from a dirt pad to a full operational shelter that can house personnel," the sergeant said. "It also gives you a sense of completion when the commander comes out to the site and personally thanks each member of the team for a job well done for all their hard work to construct something of this magnitude in such short time frames."

Truly, this team is not only expeditionary, but also expeditious.

"Each 4K shelter in this weather takes approximately three days to complete, due to the snow, ice, rain and the bitter cold temperatures. Each California takes about four to five hours to build along with putting AM-2 matting on the deck for flooring," Sergeant Sampson said. "I have a great team of Airmen who persevere through all the climates that they have been dealt, and done it with pride."

Because Manas is the "gateway to Afghanistan," with approximately 30,000 troops transiting every month, the J2 BEAR team was ideal for the buildup. They did all that work on the Transit Center with "minimal impact" to the mission here.

"The team truly provides critical agile combat support skill sets, and they've been a huge benefit to our 376th team," Colonel Joyce said.
All this they did even in negative temperatures and a record 10 inches of snow last week.

"Yes, weather affects the construction of these style shelters," Sergeant Sampson said. "If rain gets into the tracks/ceeters and freezes during the night, then there will be no way for the team to pull the fabric. Also, if the ground is frozen and there is no concrete pad then you have to hammer five-foot stakes into the ground, and that is where it takes the most time and energy."

The snow buried everything they needed to construct the shelter, but the team was undauntable.

"We stayed warm by moving around and doing the job," Sergeant Sampson said. "Don't get me wrong, you still get cold, but my team still pressed forward and did a great and safe job for Manas."