24th MEU puts expeditionary planning to ultimate test

Marine Corps News ^ | Cpl. Randall A. Clinton, USMC

[SandRat]

Marines with MWSS 271, attached to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, NATO International Security Assistance Force, lay down AM2 matting while in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. This AM2 matting will be essential in the support of aircraft while conducting operations in support of NATO.

Marines with MWSS 271, attached to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, NATO International Security Assistance Force, lay down AM2 matting while in the Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. This AM2 matting will be essential in for the landing and parking of aircraft while conducting operations in support of NATO.

Marines with MWSS 271, attached to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, NATO International Security Assistance Force, lay down AM2 matting while in the Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. This AM2 matting will be essential in the support of aircraft while conducting operations in support of NATO

A Marine with MWSS 271, adds another piece to the 96,000 sq. ft. AM2 matting puzzle on a base in Knadahar Province Mar. 19, 2008. The matting will be used to land and park aircraft.

KANDAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (Mar. 20, 2008) -- As the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit prepares for full-spectrum operations to support NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, clouds of dust, reminiscent of a sandstorm, rise from a corner of their base as a flurry of construction projects are underway to accommodate the more than 2,300 Marines and their equipment.

From the 24th MEU’s aviation combat element’s hangar, Gunnery Sgt. Daniel West, maintenance control staff non-commissioned officer-in-charge, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 365 (Reinforced), 24th MEU, ISAF, reflects on the drastic change at the NATO base.

“Where that tent city is (pointing somewhat east) was just a barren field full of mines,” West explained, overlooking a lot crowded with structures for Marines to sleep, eat and bathe. “Within a month they have constructed that whole area, contracted all the services, acquired all our work spaces and started work on two ramps (on the flight line).”

The flight line improvements demonstrate the 24th MEU’s ability to quickly arrive in an area and operate with minimal infrastructure. Instead of pouring concrete or other time-consuming activites, Marines employ an interlocking system of panels on which aircraft can park or land.

Fresh off a tour in Iraq, Marines from Marine Wing Support Squadron 271 slammed each slab of matting into place, creating room for the 24th MEU’s aerial arsenal.

“We build runways and parking pads that can be laid down within a weeks notice,” said Cpl. Shaun Mikicic, expeditionary airfield technician, MWSS 271, Marine Wing Support Group 27, 2nd Marine Air Wing. “We have a deadline for when they want to park all their aircraft, so our biggest concern is meeting that deadline.”

With each swing of a hammer, another tile snaps into place and the 400,000 sq. ft. jigsaw inches toward that deadline. Almost as soon as the Marines create breathing room, more aircraft arrive looking for a place to park – most recently a group of AV-8B II Harriers. They now rest on a 96,000 sq. ft. strip the Marines pieced together over three 16-hour days in the sun, sand and wind.

“Obviously it is really hot during the day, slamming 155- pound slabs of matting. It takes a lot of those to build an airfield,” explained Warrant Officer Joseph Whitebear, expeditionary airfield and emergency services officer, MWSS 271. “They push through it like Marines do, it’s not an easy job, but they are probably the best at it.”

The airfield operation is similar in technique to what his Marines did in Iraq and back home, only on a much larger scale.

“From what I am being told, it is the largest solid connect pad that any expeditionary airfield (unit) has done,” said Whitebear.

Like the men who laid railroads across the country, allowing unprecedented transcontinental travel, these Marines know that their efforts are key to transportation.

During a pause in the pounding, one Marine reflected on their importance to the 24th MEU’s mission. “This is the first step to get aircraft in the air so they can support the Marines on the ground,” said Sgt. Cody Gonzales, expeditionary airfield technician, MWSS 271.

By quickly creating their own air strip, the Marines won’t disrupt other air operations on the base when all the aircraft arrive, a surprising feat considering the size of the arriving Marine force.

“We are going to have the most aircraft out here of any squadron on base,” West said.

The tent city, noticeable from the flight line expansion, is further proof of the Marines large, yet temporary presence.

Over the past month, 2nd Lieutenant Gregory Procaccini, combat engineer officer, Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th MEU, ISAF, has overseen the transformation of a minefield to a Marine camp.

“We didn’t have any idea of what we were going to have when we got here,” he said.

Proving that all tents are not created equal, Procaccini arrived to find the Air Force’s interpretation of tents much more palatable than those Marines are accustomed to. After arriving, he was greeted by an Air Force unit bearing supplies to create a mini-city and teams of civilian contractors ready to set it up.

“It’s a package deal. They (the tents called Harvest Falcon II) come with the air conditioner unit, the lights, the ducting, flooring, power generation, showers, latrine units – they all came with the package as well as piping, water bags and fuel bags,” Procaccini said.

Included in this package were even expert technicians from the 49th Material Maintenance Group. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Sheridan, chief enlisted manager, 49th MMG, roams the camp making sure his fellow American service members’ new home is up to par.

“You have a small city here. We have a power plant so they don’t have to worry about power issues. Every single tent has air conditioning so you can keep comfortable even when it is 110 degrees out here. We even built a chow hall out here so you don’t need to go anywhere else to eat,” he explained. “Everything you need is right here.”

“We are here to help the Marines get set up and go take care of the bad guys. When you are here with the comforts of home it should give you some respite from the mountains,” said Sheridan. Simply put, “a place to rest your feet and not step in mud.”

The Marines will only be here for a limited duration. The Marines must find a balance between the amount of infrastructure needed to conduct operations and their finite timeline.

“Our footprint when we leave will be minimal, because we have put in no hard structures,” explained West.

Even the permanent-looking flight line additions will all be taken apart in the same piece-by-piece fashion when the Marines leave.

“We can go in somewhere lay it (flight line additions) down really fast, use it, and pick it up without anyone ever knowing it was here,” Gonzales said.

When the time comes, the expansive tent city created for the Marines will eventually be torn down, rolled up and shipped out and the harsh, sandy wind the shelters once protected Marines from will erase any remnants of the Marines having resided there.

[SandRat]

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[2111USMC]

Cool.

The floor of the last Marine tent I stayed in was provided by the Mojave desert.

[brityank]

Ping.

Proving that all tents are not created equal, Procaccini arrived to find the Air Force’s interpretation of tents much more palatable than those Marines are accustomed to. After arriving, he was greeted by an Air Force unit bearing supplies to create a mini-city and teams of civilian contractors ready to set it up.

“It’s a package deal. They (the tents called Harvest Falcon II) come with the air conditioner unit, the lights, the ducting, flooring, power generation, showers, latrine units – they all came with the package as well as piping, water bags and fuel bags,” Procaccini said.

Included in this package were even expert technicians from the 49th Material Maintenance Group. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Sheridan, chief enlisted manager, 49th MMG, roams the camp making sure his fellow American service members’ new home is up to par.

“You have a small city here. We have a power plant so they don’t have to worry about power issues. Every single tent has air conditioning so you can keep comfortable even when it is 110 degrees out here. We even built a chow hall out here so you don’t need to go anywhere else to eat,” he explained. “Everything you need is right here.”

“We are here to help the Marines get set up and go take care of the bad guys. When you are here with the comforts of home it should give you some respite from the mountains,” said Sheridan. Simply put, “a place to rest your feet and not step in mud.”

Bet they won't have any problems filling those billets.

[Lancey Howard]

“It’s a package deal. They (the tents called Harvest Falcon II) come with the air conditioner unit, the lights, the ducting, flooring, power generation, showers, latrine units – they all came with the package as well as piping, water bags and fuel bags,” Procaccini said.

Good grief! I shoulda been born thirty years later.... I still remember rolling my sleeping bag out in the snow. Or worse, fumbling with netting around my face to keep the swarms of mosquitoes away as I clammed up from sweat in my arctic sleeping bag on mid-July evenings.

"Air conditioner unit"???

[brityank]

Have to admit, I had it soft in the Navy. The radar spaces and computer room for the gun fire control systems were all air conditioned. We even managed to set up some bunks and hammocks!

[Grimmy]

Remember the wet weather gear that had all the water proofing worn off it? We called it “bounty gear”. Absorbed twice its weight in water.

[Lancey Howard]

I stuck with the ugly green basic poncho I wore throughout the first two phases of boot camp (before we were graced with the nifty dress raincoats in third phase). That poncho stunk like hell but it kept me dry. I ended up “appropriating” a couple more along the way. I think I even remember snapping a few ponchos together and making a “tent” once or twice.

[Lancey Howard]

One thing I remember clearly was when we converted from c-rats to MREs (aka, “Meals Rejected by Ethiopians”). I think that was around 1984. We were the guinea pigs for MREs. It didn’t take too many of them before I was nostalgicizing for the olden days of c-rat crackers, hot dog slices in baked beans, and sh!+ disks.

The MREs they have today are reported to be much better.

[Grimmy]

The ol’ Chocolate Nutroll wasn’t bad if you could take the time to steam it in its can first. Raw, the thing was like trying to eat a compressed cake of chocolate flavored talcum powder.

I remember when MRE started too. Hated em. Never did like them.

[Lancey Howard]

The ol’ Chocolate Nutroll wasn’t bad if you could take the time to steam it in its can first.

Heh. Just the other day I stumbled across an old box of c-rat "heat tabs" in a box of old junk I had laying around. And hanging there on my dog tags was a P-38 ("John Wayne").