QAYYARAH AIRFIELD WEST, Iraq -- Having a place to get away from stress and relax has been an important part of the mission for a group of aerial port Airmen deployed to Qayyarah Airfield West, Iraq, a forward operating base that was recaptured from ISIS in Oct. 2016.
The 11 Airman team relies on an ‘all hands on deck’ mentality to make sure aircraft are unloaded, loaded and back in the air in a timely manner. When not working on a mission at this strategic launching pad, they continue that mentality to make the compound they live in a place to be proud of.
“I do a little bit of everything here,” said Staff Sgt. Elijah Santiago, 442nd Air Expeditionary Squadron load planner from Yokota Air Base, Japan. “That’s one of the beauties of working at a small location like this. We all work [passengers], ramp, cargo, do joint inspection and load planning. When we aren’t doing that we are improving this place.”
The team has had to scrounge supplies from around the base to create this one-of-a-kind living space. They have made improvements at this austere location that have attracted members from the sister services stationed there, as well as coalition partners, to visit on a daily basis.
“My utmost goal when I came out here was to make sure [the team] had a place to get away after a hard day,” said Master Sgt. Jason Fox, 442nd Air Expeditionary Squadron superintendent from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. “I truly believe we have accomplished that here.”
With the materials found, they were able to build multiple seating areas and covered them with netting to shade them from the summer sun. They set up an area to play corn hole and a wall to project movies on the weekends. There is now a gym right around the corner and a morale tent to take a well deserved break.
They were able to find artificial turf that was left behind by another unit and used it to carpet the area. This feat made the compound the only green area on base and one of the few places where they do not walk directly on gravel.
The team over comes all challenges thrown at them, even with the limited number of aircraft they receive at their landing zone, they have moved nearly 1,000 tons of cargo and over 3,000 passengers this quarter, said Fox.
“The team is performing beautifully,” said Fox. “It is like a work of art, I love sitting back and watching them work.”