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The coolest guy in Kandahar

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Emily F. Alley
  • 451st AEW Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  For the more than two thousand Airmen of the 451st AEW deployed to Kandahar Airfield this summer, there's one person making sure they stay cool.

Staff Sgt. Quenton Nobles, from Hurlburt Field, is a heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration craftsman and is the responsible for maintaining all the air conditioning units for the 451st AEW. It's uncommon for a single person to be responsible for such a large group, but Nobles' supervisor, Senior Master Sgt. Dean Zoet, said that the staff sergeant understands his responsibility. Air conditioning is not just a matter of comfort at Kandahar Airfield- it also protects computers and equipment that directly support the wing's mission.

"No matter what I ask him to do, he jumps on it," said Zoet. "He's very motivated."

And he expects to get busier. During late April, Nobles estimated he's been getting 10 to 20 calls a day for air conditioner repairs, but he expects that number to grow.

"Everybody's hot," said Sergeant Nobles. "We haven't reached the hot, hot months so the best is yet to come."

He's not intimidated by the heat, however. Nobles said that since he's from the South, he grew up in the heat of his hometown, Mobile, Ala. The heat is often amplified because of the humidity, which is less common in Afghanistan.

He's been deployed three times previously, to different locations across the Middle East and he's waiting out the next few months to determine how the heat compares in each location. Each deployment, he said, he's learned something new.

"I love my job, learning new tricks," he described that in each of his four deployed locations he's worked with new kinds machinery.

Someday, he plans to take that experience back home, "It's a good trade to have in your back pocket."

He'll be ready after keeping two thousand people cool for a summer in Afghanistan.