Photo By 1st Lt. Tomas Rofkahr | Air Force Staff Sgt. Benjamin Cisneros guides a new length of pipe into position while...... read more read more
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By Army 1st Lt. Tomas Rofkahr
Combined Joint Task Force - 101
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - The wind blows hot and harsh across Forward Operating Base Sharana, pushing a wall of dust in front of it. Flags whip in protest to the treatment and Soldiers across the FOB squint behind their eye-protection and pull caps down lower as dust devils spawn to brief chaotic life around them.
It's hot, dry and rain seems a distant memory to most, but to Air Force Master Sgt. Rick Grambo of the 1st Expeditionary Red Horse Group's Well Drilling Detachment and his team, Sharana seems a veritable oasis.
After 30 days of work, the Red Horse team had tapped into a significant reserve of water deep beneath the FOB.
"We knew we'd hit water," Grambo said, "but it wasn't until last week or so that we knew how much."
The team is currently pumping out about 115 gallons of water per minute, said Tech. Sgt. Nate Laidlaw, drilling team.
"That's around 165,600 gallons a day," explained Grambo, with a smile.
According to Laidlaw, with careful management of the aquifer that resides below the FOB, the water the well produces could last for a very long time.
"The well itself is good for 15 years," said Grambo. "After that, it will need some maintenance and cleaning, but that's all."
As he gazing up at the rugged pipe and latticework of the drilling rig, Grambo seemed less concerned with the impressive volume of water that the well could produce than he was with the fact that the giant machine works at all.
"About this time a year ago, this rig was in an accident as they tried to transport it from Pakistan," he said. "It was demolished – totalled. The manufacturer claimed it would take (more than) $140,000 to repair it."
It ended up costing a fair bit less to repair the drilling system. Members of the Red Horse team responsible for the rig, fabricated their own parts and managed to rebuild the machine by hand at almost no cost to the military.
For the residents of FOB Sharana the water in this new well represents a significant opportunity.
"It's our first step to being self-sufficient and producing our own water," said Brig. Gen. Paul E. Crandall, Combined Task Force Castle commander. "This is a significant accomplishment for the Red Horse team and it benefits everyone that lives and works on FOB Sharana."
According to Crandall, the new source of water provides benefits that include greater security and operational flexibility for all coalition forces that work on Sharana.
| Date Taken: | 07.09.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 07.10.2008 14:43 |
| Story ID: | 21360 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 660 |
| Downloads: | 560 |
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