Seabees and RED HORSE Engineers Finish First Phase of Helicopter Landing Zone Expansion on Kandahar

Photo By Ernesto Hernandez Fonte | Senior Airman Grant Lyons (right) from Memphis, Tenn., and Airman 1st Class John Hoyt from Manteno, Calif., assigned to the 809th Rapid Engineer Deployable, Heavy Operational Repair Squadron, Engineers, place a concrete pad on Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.  

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN

01.16.2010

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ernesto Hernandez Fonte 

30th Naval Construction Regiment

KANDAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Military engineers assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 22 and the Air Force 809th Expeditionary Red Horse Squadron completed the initial phase of the Mustang Ramp expansion project in January 2010 on Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.

The expansion of Mustang Ramp, a helicopter landing zone, has been underway since March 2009 and is an ongoing 30th Naval Construction Regiment construction project. The expansion is the number one priority project for U.S. Forces Afghanistan South and 30NCR, which oversees all U.S. military engineer construction in southern Afghanistan.

According to Chief Builder Derrin Austin, 30NCR KAF area action chief, the engineers are expanding Mustang Ramp to facilitate the relocation of rotary wing assets throughout KAF. The relocation is designed to consolidate rotary wing aircraft, increase the operational capability of rotary wing aircraft units in southern Afghanistan and establish an area where efficient depot level maintenance can take place.

Engineers from the 809th ERHS and NMCB 22 coordinated efforts to expand one phase of the HLZ. The 809th ERHS placed five 100' X 200' concrete pads and used earthmoving equipment to grade, level and compact more than 15,000 square meters of land before installing the AM2 and M19 metal matting that makes up the helicopter taxiways and parking areas. Concurrently, NMCB 22 constructed eight wood structures that will serve as offices for the Combat Aviation Brigade, Fire, Crash and Rescue and other support units moving onto Mustang Ramp. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, Regional Contracting Command, 57th Signal Battalion and 550th Signal Company also played key roles in establishing and expanding Mustang Ramp by installing infrastructure necessary to support the HLZ.

"The Mustang Ramp project is a very complex construction project that involves coordination among the U.S. military engineer assets, civilian contractors, communications, power and logistics engineers," said Austin. "Basically every type of construction asset available in this region is working on this project simultaneously."

The 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade is the first command to benefit from the expansion while they relocate to Mustang Ramp. As engineers complete follow on phases of construction on Mustang Ramp, additional units are expected to move in.

• Date Taken: 01.16.2010
• Date Posted: 01.16.2010 01:31
• Story ID: 43933
• Location: KANDAHAR, AF