25th CAB improves Afghan airfield roads
Contractors use asphalt to pave a heavily used road that runs through Mustang Ramp, on Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Sept. 21, where 25th CAB Soldiers conduct operations.
Story and photo by
Capt. Richard Barker
25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs, 25th Infantry Division
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Anyone who has spent an amount of time camping with the Boy Scouts knows the first rule of camping is “leave it better than you found it.”
The 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, here, has taken this simple rule to extremes.
With only a few months left before its replacement brigade, the 3rd CAB, enters theater, Task Force Wings is busy with several projects aimed at ensuring its operational spaces are left much better than when it arrived.
One project involves the replacement of AM2 matting on the parking and taxiing ramps known as Mustang Ramp West, here, which is home to a large portion of the brigade’s helicopters.
Other projects include the restoration of infrastructure at Mustang Ramp, ranging from improving water, sewer and electricity, along with building a fire hydrant pump house.
An important project was the paving of the most heavily used road for the Soldiers of the 25th CAB. This project almost did not happen, as contractors were not originally scheduled to pave the main road to Mustang Ramp.
“After analysis and seeing how busy Mustang Ramp was, we decided paving there was more important than paving other designated areas,” said Scott Swanson, construction representative, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “It’s nice to know we are able to contribute to Soldiers’ living conditions,” Swanson added, noting that control of the dust alone will make a huge difference.
The paved road and added culvert system also greatly improve work conditions during periods of rain, when water used to flood the road and run into the rotary-wing maintenance bays.
Another operational improvement came when the 25th CAB command group and staff moved to a new brigade headquarters building, effectively bringing the brigade three miles closer to its subordinate units, here.
Category: Deployed Forces, News
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