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Knocking down buildings, saving money

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Gary J. Rihn
  • 455 AEW/PA
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  When structures on Bagram Airfield have outlived their usefulness, a small group of specialists with the 243rd Construction Management Team here show up with their tools of destruction, ready to handle the toughest jobs.

Five Joint Expeditionary Tasked (JET) Airmen from the U.S. Air Force work directly for the Army's 82nd Sustainment Brigade Headquarters out of Kandahar, Afghanistan. The forward-deployed team here is responsible for Regional Commands East, Capital, and North.

"We are a headquarters element responsible for managing the engineer process," said Chief Master Sgt. Lee Weikert, chief enlisted manager for the team. Weikert is a native of Vandalia, Ohio, and deployed here from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

His team validates, writes and issues fragmentation orders to two engineer battalions for the deconstruction of expeditionary bases. Once demolition begins, they monitor the progress as work progresses toward meeting presidential directives for the Operation RESOLUTE SUPPORT MISSION starting at the end of this year.

"The most rewarding part is seeing numerous bases close or transfer successfully Combined/Joint Operations Area-wide and knowing we had a direct impact on making it happen," said Technical Sgt. Jeremy Campbell, a team member deployed from Shaw Air Force Base, and a native of Flippin, Ark.

Here at Bagram, the team has identified every structure on base, determined its reason for being and what its future is. They have identified 2,050 structures to be demolished out of 5,970 on base. Most of these are older wooden structures that are a life, health and safety concern as well as a force protection issue. One major goal is getting personnel moved into hardened permanent structures better able to withstand possible indirect fire attacks.

"There's no reason to keep investing time and resources trying to reinforce wooden structures that are in need of constant repair," said team member Staff Sgt. Wade Ferry. He is a native of Sanford, N.C., and deployed here from Shaw Air Force Base.

"Here on Bagram, the most satisfying part is seeing all the B-huts come down and knowing the effort it takes to accomplish that," added Campbell.

Staff Sgt. Rueben Gingerich helps to plan descoping procedures by surveying, programming and determining a building's schedule of disposition. Out of the nearly 6,000 structures of various sizes on base, only 61 remain to have their disposition determined.

"I took all of the available resources and created a visual picture of the deconstruction program at Bagram and the other Forward Operating Bases that we are responsible for. That map is used by leadership at briefings as an interactive life cycle map of progress," said Gingerich, deployed from Ellsworth Air Force Base and a native of Nampa, Idaho.

Ferry assists in that process by doing on-site surveys, bringing back information that is used by the facility working group to give buildings their actual disposition date. Once that date is determined, notices are posted. A day before demolition commences, the team goes through one last time, confirming that no personnel or sensitive materials remain in the buildings. To double-check that, all remaining locks are cut and doors opened before demolition actually begins.

"I get out there to see how the facilities are being used, to determine if we can utilize it better, can we consolidate to free up space," said Ferry.

To date, the team has destroyed 421 structures returning $1.2 million in Logistics Civil Augmentation Program assets back to the U.S. government and reducing contract costs by $2.3 million in annual maintenance. Once all 2,050 structures are removed, they will have returned approximately $6.1 million in assets to the government and eliminated $12.3 million in annual maintenance costs.

"It all started one building at a time," said Capt. Raymond Kerr, the officer-in-charge of the team. Kerr is deployed from Langley Air Force Base, and is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa.

"Instead of spending, this is a great opportunity to save money. These savings are sustainable, saving us money every year," added Kerr. "Those were buildings that we were paying for, that we have turned into savings."

The team will continue to be busy with removal, destruction and repurposement of buildings as the drawdown of forces in Afghanistan continues.