Afghanistan buildup taxes AF workload - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Afghanistan buildup taxes AF workload

Air Force construction teams have their hands full helping the service get ready for 17,000 more soldiers and Marines headed for Afghanistan.

The airmen are building about a half-dozen new bases from scratch, helping set up several smaller-scale outposts and turning fields of gravel and sand into dirt runways for C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemasters, according to Maj. Gen. Del Eulberg, the Air Force’s top civil engineer.

Right now, Eulberg said, there are about 3,000 civil engineer airmen deployed. Their jobs include disarming roadside bombs, overseeing water and electrical systems, managing construction contracts and erecting bases on short notice.

Most deploy for six months, with 43 percent serving in joint units or filling roles traditionally held by soldiers and Marines, he said. The typical civil engineering squadron member has deployed three to four times since 2001.

Those numbers add up to an active-duty community that is stretched to its limit, the general said.

“How do you build up in Afghanistan while you’re maxed out” in Iraq? Eulberg asked rhetorically.

Moving between theaters

As more forces move into Afghanistan and out of Iraq, Eulberg hopes civil engineering airmen will swing between theaters. Civil engineer airmen in Iraq, however, are often among the last to leave when forward operating bases are closed or turned over to the Iraqi government because they shut down the electrical systems and pack up equipment such as power cables.

To shut down bases in Iraq while opening bases in Afghanistan, the Air Force will depend on increased deployments of Air National Guard and Reserve civil engineers, Eulberg said. The Guard began notifying squadrons of involuntary mobilizations in February.

Eulberg’s office and commanders in the field are also looking at where deployed requirements can be cut.

For example, a call came last year for 200 airmen to manage a new housing area opened at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Eulberg said. There were not 200 airmen to spare and the task went to civilians.

In Iraq, the Air Force and Army are working to turn over base engineering services to Iraqi contractors. Iraqi civilian engineers and U.S. military engineers are working together at five forward bases with the goal of sharing day-to-day duties until June and later handing over all the duties to Iraqis. The transition will allow about 50 airmen to serve elsewhere.