Airmen and Navy Seabees hook and stretch aluminum landing mats together during a joint airfield damage repair exercise in 2009 at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. (Stars and Stripes)
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — It’s a lot of heavy lifting and being soiled by debris, dust and smoke — but the airmen and Navy Seabees stayed focused on safety and urgency.
Their mission was to repair a mangled airfield in a simulated combat zone.
During an exercise Thursday, crews worked to patch up 10-foot-deep holes in a runway damaged by a mock bomb explosion.
Airmen and Seabees handling front-end loaders, dirt-asphalt rollers and motor graders worked in union to smooth over backfill and compact the holes.
Others repaired lights on the airfield and cleared debris.
The exercise was one of several during the 18th Wing’s weeklong operational readiness exercise last week.
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Troy Keith, an electrician with 18th Civil Engineer Squadron, said weather conditions and nighttime visibility can affect repairs.
Keith said typically a crew of six electricians can set up an emergency airfield lighting system in about 2½ hours. It takes about an hour longer when wearing protective gear.
The system helps pilots gauge safe landings.
“It’s challenging working at night; you have to make sure you’re making the right connections,” Keith said.
Roughly 40 Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40 and airmen from the 18th Civil Engineer Squadron participated in the repair exercise, said Air Force Master Sgt. Bryan Garner, who was evaluating the exercise.
The operational readiness exercise — which wrapped Friday — runs as a 24-hour operation as airmen practice responding to various wartime scenarios including processing Kadena Air Base personnel and equipment to deploy, generating aircraft sorties, conducting fire drills and testing airmen’s ability to survive and operate under adverse conditions.
Thursday’s exercise was the first time airmen and Seabees got a chance to practice airfield damage repair together, said Navy Chief Petty Officer Stanley Freshour of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40.
The battalion is assigned to Camp Shields during a seven-month deployment from Port Hueneme, Calif., Freshour said.
The goal is to have a working runway within four hours, he said.
Freshour said adjusting to another branch’s leadership style and approach can be tricky at first, but that the servicemembers increased their speed and efficiency with each drill.
“We’re both trying to achieve the exact same thing,” he said. “It’s been a great learning experience.”
