An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Air Force, Slovakians team up, complete new facility

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Renni Thornton
  • 451st Air Expeditionary Wing
Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan --  A joint effort with coalition forces culminated in the completion of a new airfield passenger terminal on Kandahar Airfield May 20.

The Commander of Kandahar Airfield, United Kingdom Royal Air Force Air Commodore Gordon Moulds, received the keys to the new passenger handling facility building during a ceremony.

"I want to thank you all for a job well done," he said to the coalition of Slovakian and U.S. service members.

"Your teamwork helped complete this project on time, and it looks great."

The Slovakian Armed Forces construction battalion took the lead on the project, beginning interior construction in February.

They constructed walls, built offices, erected fire-retardant walls and painted the interior of the building.

Additional outdoor construction included building the fence line and adding force protection barriers along the perimeter.

Working with the U.S service members was perfect, said Slovakian Armed Forces detachment commander, Lt. Col. Alexander Schober.

"We worked simultaneously with different projects at the same time. We all worked very well together," he said.

Members of the 451st Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron also began work on the project in February, installing more than 100 lighting fixtures throughout the building, said Maj. Joshua Demotts, commander, 451st ECES.

"The team also installed heating and air conditioning units throughout the building, along with 1,000 feet of cable wiring and refrigerant piping. Since starting the project, we've partnered on several other projects with the Slovakian engineers. They are great craftsmen and have been a great group to work with," he said.

Other members of the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing contributed to the completion of the project, as well.

Over the past month, cable systems installers routed voice and data lines throughout the building, enabling the offices to set up telephones and computer connections, said 1st Lt. Breanne Clark, flight commander of operations, 451st Expeditionary Communications Squadron.

"The new building is expected to significantly improve the passenger process because the entire outbound passenger processing area is being removed from the current location, reducing the amount of congestion almost 50 percent," said Capt. Robert Wengerter, flight commander, Air Terminal Operations Center, 451st Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron.