Civil Engineers keep Bagram's Air Field safe

Photo By Stephenie Wade | Staff Sgt. Richard Skinner, 455th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron, heavy equipment journeyman,mows the grass around the Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, July 31, 2013. The CE squadron here recently took over the mission and has reduced bird strikes significantly. He is deployed from Little Rock Air National Guard, Ark. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Staff Sgt. Stephenie Wade)  

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AFGHANISTAN

07.31.2013

Story by Staff Sgt. Stephenie Wade 

455th Air Expeditionary Wing   

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - What is tall, bushy and green all over?

Grass; and in Afghanistan, it's often accompanied by thorns and rocks. Grass cutting may seem like a simple task, but here, it's very time consuming and essential to safe airfield operations. Members from the 455th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron have spent the last 30 days mowing more than 18-million square feet of it surrounding Bagram's Air Field.

"The airfield is our number one priority here," said Staff Sgt. Richard Skinner, 455th ECES heavy equipment journeyman deployed from Little Rock Air National Guard, Ark. "Without it, there would be no Air Force. During the hours of day light I spend all my time outside cutting grass to ensure that aircraft can fly safely."

At first it may not seem that mowing grass is essential for safe airfield operations but it's very important when you consider what lives in the grass.

"Grass is a main contribution to bird strikes because the birds hide it," said Master Sgt. Ronald Lilja 455th ECES supervisor of heavy equipment and vegetation deployed from a Rhode Island Air National Guard Base and native of Wrentham, Mass. "When the aircraft take off or land it scares the birds, they fly into the air causing the following aircraft to receive bird strikes, therefore if we keep the grass low it will reduce bird strikes."

The ultimate goal is to make the airfield unhospitable to pests. The Safety Office coordinates with the 455th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron to trim or remove the vegetation that grows between runways and taxiways. According to Master Sgt. Andrew Van Houten, due to CE's grass cutting efforts the bird strikes here during the months of June and July, are the lowest the base has experienced in five years.

"The bird strikes have decreased by 70 percent," said Van Houten, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing flight safety deployed from RAF Lakenheath and native of Mount Vernon, Ohio. "No aircraft have been damaged by bird strikes throughout their entire rotation thus far."

The 455th ECES took over the grass cutting mission this year mowing it during the spring, summer and fall.

"There wasn't a contract in place and the one that was proposed, $1.8 million for a two year contract, was too expensive," said Van Houten. "Basically it would cost the U.S. government $300,000 to mow it each time."

After repairing the equipment they had available, the heavy equipment members were able to maintain the airfield's grass.

"Grass cutting takes even longer with the terrain here; the thorns flatten the tires causing us to air them up every day, and the rocks break the blades," said Skinner native of Fox, Ark.

The efforts of CE have established continuity of the airfield habitat management for future rotations and saved the Air Force money.

• Date Taken: 07.31.2013
• Date Posted: 08.05.2013 09:14
• Story ID: 111344
• Location: BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF
• Hometown: FOX, AK, US
• Hometown: MOUNT VERNON, OH, US
• Hometown: WRENTHAM, MA, US