647th CES Airmen lend support to C-17 training mission

by Staff Sgt. Terri Paden
15th Wing Public Affairs

10/23/2013 - JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii  -- Airmen from the 647th Civil Engineer Squadron Engineering Assistants and Structures Flight recently teamed up to paint the first-ever assault landing zone at the Navy's Barking Sands Pacific Missile Range Facility.

Barking Sands, a multi-dimensional testing and training missile range located on the island of Kauai, is the largest of its kind in the world; supporting surface, subsurface, air and space operations. Thanks to the great teamwork from PMRF leadership and 647 CES Airmen, the PMRF runway will now also serve as a temporary ALZ for the active-duty 535th and the Air National Guard's 204th C-17 Airlift Squadrons.

According to Capt. Christopher Adams, 15th Operations Support Squadron, prior to the ALZ installation, there were no available assault landing strips in the Hawaiian Islands which could accommodate the training for the C-17 squadrons. There were no plans to build a new ALZ, and the only existing ALZ in the immediate area is difficult to use because of terrain and noise abatement concerns. Moreover, the existing location is currently under construction, with several phases remaining to be completed.

Adams said the ability to practice assault landings on a short or austere runway is a critical skill C-17 pilots must practice in order to effectively execute the C-17's mission of worldwide airlift, during peacetime and war, in support of national security and the Department of Defense. Having the ability to train at Barking Sands doubles training capacity and provides much needed redundancy for when the primary ALZ is unavailable. "The airlift squadrons needed a suitable place to train and prepare for their wartime mission requirements," said Lt. Joseph Correia, 647 CES EA Flight chief and construction manager on the project. "They turned to the 647 CES to solve this issue and we delivered."

Though the preparation and planning leading up to the mission lasted about three weeks, the crew, which consisted of only 11 members including two Navy civilian contractors, had only 36 hours on ground to get the job done so they hit the ground running.

"Once we hit the ground, with the C-17 engines still blaring, we unloaded the trucks and our equipment and drove to the location to begin immediately doing our site survey and designing the layout," said Correia.

Next up, the structures Airmen and civilians worked quickly to apply the striping material.

"The proficiency and expertise of the individuals that handled the mission allowed the layout and striping portion to be completed in approximately eight hours," said Correia. "We stayed on site until our flight arrived the next day, loaded our materials and we were out of there as fast as we came in."

Correia said the weeks of planning and preparation, combined with the crew's proficiency, allowed for a flawless execution of the mission in the end.

Though Correia and his crew suspected a job well done, he said the final confirmation came on the flight out.

"We received our final confirmation that our mission had been successful when the C-17 came to pick us up and the pilot was able to test out the new ALZ," he said. "After speaking with the pilots, they confirmed that the layout could not have been more perfect."

According to Adams, that perfection will allow more than 100 C-17 pilots stationed in Hawaii to remain combat mission ready.

However, Correiea said though the physical labor could not have taken place in a more unique location, the mission was all in a day's work for the Engineering Assistants and Structures Airmen.