Vital mission sustains Camp Justice

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Steven Rougeau | Air Force Senior Airman Mark Stricklen, deployed with the 474th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron in support of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, washes his clothes in one of the laundry rooms at Camp Justice, July 23. Stricklen, a member of the electrical shop, supports the daily maintenance and upkeep of Camp Justice and the Expeditionary Legal Complex. JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees, including those convicted by military commission and those ordered released by a court. The JTF conducts intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination for the protection of detainees and personnel working in JTF Guantanamo facilities and in support of the War on Terror. JTF Guantanamo provides support to the Office of Military Commissions, to law enforcement and to war crimes investigations. The JTF conducts planning for and, on order, responds to Caribbean mass migration operations.  

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA

07.24.2009

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Steven Rougeau 

Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba — The 474th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron utilities and fuels section, with Joint Task Force Guantanamo, provides the creature comforts that are often taken for granted. Living in a tent city, such as Camp Justice, was much harsher in the past when the military would deploy and set up a camp with the minimum amount of amenities that would make day-to-day living bearable. Service members, more than anyone else, experience limited facilities in remote areas when deployed.

The men and women of the 474th ECES build and maintain camps like Camp Justice throughout the world. This concept is based on the Air Force's Harvest Falcon system that provides billeting with heating and cooling, showers, shave units, latrines, laundry facilities, generators and much more.

Camp Justice is a product of the new military, where instant tent cities can be built to house and support training. This tan colored tent city becomes a functional and self-contained city providing all the comforts of home in a field environment for service members, civilian media and lawyers.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. John Taylor, a member of the 130th Air National Guard Air Lift Wing from Charleston, W. Va., and non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the 474th ECES utilities section, is responsible for providing and maintaining the water supply throughout the camp to all the showers, shave units, laundry facilities and latrines.

"Our main water source runs off a fire hydrant from McCalla Hanger that feeds this camp," Taylor said. "It runs through a fire hose that is connected to the shower and laundry pumps that boosts the pressure and makes the system work more efficiently."

"We have boilers that provide hot water for all the showers and shave units in the camp," added Air Force Master Sgt. Eddie Moore, with the 130th Air National Guard Air Lift Wing from Charleston, W. Va.

These lines run throughout the camp feeding the latrines, showers and laundry facilities. With all these locations using water, holding tanks are placed at each of these sites to collect the waste water which is periodically pumped out by the contractors on the base.

The utilities section must also be able to get rid of the waste water — called grey and black water — to meet sanitation requirements. Grey water is waste water from the showers and laundry facilities, black water is sewage water. Both types of waste water are pumped out and disposed of by contractors.

There is also a backup fresh water supply in case the main water has to be shut off for any period of time.

"Some of the challenges we have to deal with is the hardness of the water which clogs up the screens and shower heads." Taylor said.

In order to support the water needs of Camp Justice and help the utility team provide quality service, fuel is a necessary element to mission success.

The fuels section, headed by Moore along with his team, monitors and supplies fuel usage for Camp Justice.

"The fuel is used to run generators, mobile lighting units, Bobcats and fork lifts," Moore said. "We perform weekly preventive maintenance checks to ensure no leaks are present on any of our valves, hoses and fuel bladders, we check for serviceability and replace these things when needed. Since shore power has been connected to Camp Justice, consumption of fuel has been estimated to have been reduced by 85 to 90 percent."

Tent cities like Camp Justice were designed for Southwest Asia operations where there is a no freeze environment. These systems can be built in a matter of weeks, housing thousands of service members for military operations to sustain long-term permanent rotations.

For more information about Joint Task Force Guantanamo, visit the Web site at www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil.

• Date Taken: 07.24.2009
• Date Posted: 07.31.2009 09:19
• Story ID: 37006
• Location: GUANTANAMO BAY, CU