Civil engineers prepare for Afghanistan surge - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Civil engineers prepare for Afghanistan surge

Air Force civil engineer and construction teams are arriving in Afghanistan to set up bases that will become home to the 17,000 additional troops due there by the summer.

Maj. Gen. Del Eulberg, Air Force civil engineer, said Monday that airmen are already at Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan laying down metal mats to create more ramp space for helicopters. As soon as the helicopters move to the new ramp area, Air Force C-130J Hercules will take their old space on the base’s concrete ramp.

Eulberg estimated airmen would need to help construct about a half-dozen field bases, including dirt runways for C-130 and C-17 Globemaster transports, in support of the impending influx of soldiers and Marines. Airmen will also have a hand in establishing remote forward operating bases.

About 3,000 Air Force civil engineer team members are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan operations, said Eulberg. In addition to construction projects, their missions include explosive ordnance disposal, base utility operations, overseeing construction contracts and instructing Iraqi and Afghan student civil engineers.