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.

RED HORSE gallops through AOR

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Cassandra Locke
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The 1st Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer Group, based out of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, is responsible for facility, airfield and roadway construction throughout the AOR. 

The 150-person group performs construction projects with equipment and personnel based on requirements identified by CENTAF headquarters; such as well drilling, concrete and asphalt plant operations and explosives demolition along with other special capabilities. At this moment there are a total of 23 projects at the four spoke sites throughout the AOR. 

According to Capt. Steven Thomas, 1st ERHG operations officer, about 120 Airmen from the 1st ERHG are forward deployed to various locations in the AOR to include, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, Balad Air Base, Iraq and another base located in Southwest Asia. 

"The 1st ERHG is set up as a hub-spoke operation. We have our hub here from which we spoke out the large majority of our force to various locations throughout the AOR where they construct a wide array of different projects," said Captain Thomas. 

The squadron's current projects include pre-engineered buildings, a concrete aircraft apron, asphalt roads, an aircraft arresting system installation and a large munitions berm project with lightning protection. 

RED HORSE provides their own services such as vehicle maintenance and operations, logistics plans, supply finance and contracting as well as the traditional civil engineer specialties and they have their own medical services. 

"We house the 1st ERHG leadership and serve as the behind-the-scenes support for our construction operations throughout the AOR," said Captain Thomas, who also emphasized the outstanding support provided by the 379th AEW. 

This includes tracking and moving vehicles throughout the AOR, tracking and moving Airmen throughout the AOR and construction material procurement, palletization, and delivery to the spokes. 

"It involves a great deal of work with local and international vendors to supply the materials as well as coordination with many of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing's units for assistance in receiving and transporting our materials throughout the AOR." 

The current rotation of the 1st ERHG is primarily composed of personnel from 820th and 555th RED HORSE Squadrons, both out of Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. The team is on a six-month rotation schedule.