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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Cell phones and the internet offer instant communication across the world, but they cannot replace the simple smile on a soldier’s face when a letter or package comes from home.
Recent severe weather created problems for the 90th Human Resources Company, as they moved operations to a new location and battled floodwater from recent rain and snow that threatened to ruin thousands of pounds of mail and packages.
The 90th HR Company recently moved the Bagram Regional Mail Distribution Center to a new location on Bagram Air Field in late January, just a few weeks before the 90th HR Company. The center processes all mail coming into Afghanistan destined for Regional Commands North, East, Central and West.
It’s also located on the one of bases’ lower terrain points. Weeks after the move, Afghanistan’s infamous winter erupted, hitting BAF with rain and snow. After it subsided, the center was flooded with about six inches of water from the rain and melting snow, which threatened to ruin the mail.
“We had to protect the mail and get the tent fixed,” said Maj. Richard Strong, 90th HR Company commander.
The company called in reinforcements to take on the flooding. The 101st Sustainment Brigade, the 90th HR Company’s higher headquarters, pulled their resources and gathered additional help.
Task Force Red Bull, in charge of base operations for Bagram, and Air Force civil engineers extended their assistance to raise the floor of the RDMC to prevent future flooding, said Sgt. 1st Class Phillip Schaffer, brigade plans section non-commissioned officer in charge.
The teams worked together to lay a new floor under the LAMS-A tent of the RMDC. A LAMS-A tent, or large area maintenance shelter-aviation, is a quick-to-erect, deployable maintenance shelter systems for military equipment.
“They’re placing big rocks for a solid foundation, with smaller rocks to fill in the holes,” Schafer said. “A mat will be placed over the combination of rocks to prevent future flooding of mail operations.”
TF Red Bull offered their street contractors, consisting of local day workers, to assist with the project “This is something that doesn’t happen too often,” Schafer said, “The road crew came on the flight line.”
The 455th Civil Engineer Squadron built a drainage ditch alongside the RMDC to collect water away from the mail inside, said Air Force Master Sgt. Joe Buck, a heavy equipment journeyman for the 455th CES. The Air Force also helped the local contractors level out the ground with rocks, dirt and sand. “We’re helping make it better instead of water getting in to the boxes,” Buck said.
The stable floor will combat the risk of flooding and provide solid ground for the heavy equipment and massive loads of mail processed daily. “With the ground muddy and wet, we couldn’t drive forklifts to move the mail,” Strong said.
The Sustainment Brigade oversaw and organized overhauling the flooring, and arranged all the team to work together. “It took quite a bit of coordination between the brigade headquarters, base operations and the Air Force to pull all this together,” Shafer said.
Mail operations moved to higher ground during the renovation of the floor. The RMDC continues its mission by sorting and preparing all mail for outward movement if the mail goes to another FOB. “They’ll put all Shank mail together or all Jalalabad mail together and palletize it for an aircraft or prepared for a truck,” Strong said.
| Date Taken: | 03.07.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 03.08.2011 11:08 |
| Story ID: | 66678 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 161 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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