Untouchables add new dimension to Al Asad flightlines

AL ASAD, Iraq (Dec. 29, 2005) -- Ten Marines from Marine Wing Support Squadron 272’s expeditionary airfield team are adding four expeditionary marshalling pads to Al Asad, Iraq’s flightlines.

The project, which began Dec. 15, will require approximately 20 days to complete and creates specific areas, out of the way of flight operations, for aircraft parking and ordnance arming and disarming.

“We might be done a little sooner,” said Staff Sgt. Al’Vincent Mitchell, the project manager and a Mobile, Ala., native. “Our guys are doing wonderful. This project gives them a chance to explore another side of their (military occupational specialty), and they’re doing a great job.”

The other side of their MOS as expeditionary airfield Marines is the construction of expeditionary airfields. With Al Asad’s paved runways, Mitchell and his Marines normally find themselves upgrading and maintaining flightlines, not building them. Now, they’re building four 96-by-48 feet marshalling pads.

“Right now the aircraft are (arming and disarming ordnance) right on the taxiway,” said Sgt. Matthew Vandentop, the assistant project manager and a Rock Valley, Iowa, native. “They need a safer place to do it, that’s what we’re creating.”

The two pads are being placed 300 feet apart for safety reasons. The other two will be used to ensure inactive aircraft don’t take runway space.

The individual mats Mitchell and the team use is the AM2. The AM2 is a piece of metal, 6 or 12 feet long, that maximizes friction and can be joined together with other AM2s like pieces in a puzzle.

“The project takes a lot of planning,” said Mitchell. “I usually work with the aviation safety officer (of fixed wing squadrons) to coordinate so we don’t disrupt anything. We also have to draw up a plan to build the pads and have it approved.”

The difficulties in planning were on display as the Marines began work on the parking pad. Marine Attack Squadron 223, which uses the taxiway adjacent to the new landing pad, was concerned the small rocks thrown onto the taxiway by the construction would damage their AV-8B Harriers’ engines.

Mitchell coordinated with the squadron to halt construction and clear the area until there was a long enough cessation in flight operations to continue.

Mitchell said the other challenge in building the pads is carving a smooth, stable and level foundation in the Iraqi desert.

“We use water trucks, graders and rollers to flatten the ground,” he said. “We try to have a 25 on the California Bearing Ratio before we lay the pads.”

The CBR is a measurement of soil density. A 100 rating is given to substances like concrete. Mitchell and the Marines of the EAF team must ensure the soil is at least 25 to minimize future problems that can occur with aircraft traffic on the AM2 matting.

“If we don’t have the right rating, there’s a chance the pad can sink,” he said. “The mats have to be put down well. If there’s unevenness, or multiple voids underneath the matting, you can shorten the pad’s lifespan to six months or less. Our goal is to put it down well, so we can minimize maintenance and keep these things up for a year.”

Sergeants Matthew Vandentop and Robert Rowe, expeditionary airfield Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 272, put one of the final pieces of AM2 matting on a newly built expeditionary marshalling pad, Dec. 27. Photo by: Cpl. James D. Hamel

Sergeant Christopher Lewis, a heavy equipment operator with Marine Wing Support Squadron 272, drives a grader over a surface that will become the site of one of Al Asad, Iraq’s new marshalling pads. The grader ensures a level surface which is necessary for a functional marshalling pad. Photo by: Cpl. James D. Hamel

Thank you Sandrat for the Pings.

Interesting read on building an airport.

3 posted on 12/29/2005 9:43:03 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Socialist=communist,elected to office,paid with your taxes: http://bernie.house.gov/pc/members.asp)

Ten Marines from Marine Wing Support Squadron 272’s expeditionary airfield team are adding four expeditionary marshalling pads to Al Asad, Iraq’s flightlines.

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