Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Gates | ALI BASE, Iraq -- Staff Sgt. Jonathan Martin, 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer...... read more read more
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Like the trunk and limbs of a tree, the infrastructure of a base gives its inhabitants certain reliability " places to work, to live and to have fun.
And like the tree, the base will continue to grow, responding to changes in the environment to add or remove certain infrastructure and to repair damage done by the elements.
At Ali Base, that job " maintaining the base infrastructure and restoring buildings after any attacks " falls to the men and women of the 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron structures flight.
"We provide flexible facility construction to maintain and improve the structures on Ali Base to sustain the force and to recover the base after an attack," said Senior Master Sgt. Christopher Foster, 407th ECES structures shop superintendent. "We want to make sure we take care of that infrastructure and provide the best possible service to our customers " we want to take care of our Airmen's facility needs to help them accomplish their missions."
To meet that need, the flight's operations range through all forms of construction, said Master Sgt. Roger Chouinard, structures shop. "One day we may be fixing tents in Bedrock (the Air Force community) and the next we may be building ductwork for a new air conditioning units."
Mornings for the flight begin early " usually starting outside work around 6 a.m. to beat the desert heat, which in July ranges at nearly 120 degrees in the middle of the day. The afternoons, said Sergeant Chouinard, normally are spent working on indoor projects and preparing for the next day's activities.
The mission is somewhat different from that at home for this crew, most of whom are Guardmen on a standard four-month rotation.
"Our mission here is much faster and much more critical," said Staff Sgt. Charles Saunders, deployed here from the 117th Air Refueling Wing, a Guard unit in Birmingham, Ala. "I enjoy the ability to serve other folks here and hear their appreciation."
There is a lot more construction to do here than at home, said Staff Sgt. Sean Winchcombe, here from the 131st Fighter Wing, a Guard unit in St. Louis. He appreciates the opportunity to get much more hands-on experience and the sense of accomplishment he gets building something from nothing.
"It is important to me to make life better for the Airmen here and to improve the mission," he said.
Their construction work brings together a lot of disciplines, said Sergeant Chouinard.
"We have carpenters, masons, welders, sheet metal mechanics and sign makers," he said. "We construct or work on facilities using metal, lumber and various types of fasteners. We are lucky to have a great inventory of battery-operated tools here which allow us to travel to remote worksites and not have to worry about power. We also have a carpentry shop and a welding area with all the appropriate stationary machinery."
In the past 30 days, the team has put all their skills to use, said Sergeant Foster, working a number of projects for the installation. The team extended the vehicle parts warehouse by 1,400 square feet, helping the vehicle maintainers keep their repair parts inside.
The parts were originally kept outside in storage boxes, so it was difficult to inventory and access them. They also built additional space for the Ali fitness center, known locally as Muscle Beach, to open up space for more workout equipment, and even put together a dunk tank for Ali July 4 activities.
Their biggest challenge is to complete all the projects they have and get home safely, said Sergeant Foster. Another big enemy, though, is dealing with the heat.
"The heat can really wear you down," said Sergeant Chouinard. "Sometimes you don't realize how much it has affected you until it's too late."
Even with the heat, the opportunity to build and improve facilities around the base gives the team the chance to meet many of the people at Ali.
"It's nice to know that the job you do is helping make someone else's work area a more conducive place to work," Sergeant Chouinard said.
Sergeant Saunders agrees.
"I see my positive and cheerful attitude, and hard work, rub off on other people around me, which helps motivate them and encourage them to move forward," he said.
| Date Taken: | 07.07.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 07.07.2006 09:36 |
| Story ID: | 7095 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 113 |
| Downloads: | 31 |
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