AFCEC finishes primary Afghanistan work

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Schneider
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  The Air Force Civil Engineer Center has marked the end of an era.

With the recent completion of the Ministry of Defense Headquarters and Support Garrison in Kabul, Afghanistan, the agency's primary construction mission in the country is drawing to a close after more than nine years.

Since 2006, AFCEC completed 84 projects valued at more than $2.3 billion while providing design and construction inspection and management services valued at an additional $471 million.

As the Air Force construction agent, AFCEC first became involved in Afghanistan projects in December 2003 when the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff requested the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment, a legacy AFCEC organization, provide a bridge for construction services in Central Command's area of responsibility. In January 2004, AFCEE was approved to support the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and, in April 2006, AFCEE started work in Afghanistan.

"The infrastructure and facilities built as a result of these efforts provided significant contributions to our military mission there, and created a long-standing investment in the future stability of Afghanistan," said AFCEC Director Joe Sciabica.

The five-story Ministry of Defense building was completed April 30 and spans more than 525,000 square feet.

"The ministry of defense compound is a 'mini Pentagon,'" said Lt. Col Erik Sell, chief of AFCEC's Strategic Design and Construction Division. "The $210 million facility brings all Afghan ministry of defense offices under one roof to provide a more cohesive center of military governance for the country."

The AFCEC team completed 38 projects valued at $900 million at Camp Bastion, Camp Leatherneck and Forward Operating Base Tombstone, which are collocated with Afghan National Army Base Shorabak. The bases make up a strategic and tactical hub for coalition forces in the fight to stabilize the volatile southern region of the country.

"AFCEC was tasked with executing the entire military construction program to transform the bases to an end state that would support more than 20,000 troops," said Michael Prazak, AFCEC Operating Forces Design and Construction chief.

A 2.1-mile runway was one of the more significant projects and represents the first expeditionary runway built by the Air Force since Vietnam, Prazak said. Other work at Bastion-Leatherneck-Tombstone included construction of hangars and support facilities, a brigade headquarters building, command and control facilities, troop housing and medical facilities.

"Bastion Air Base is now equivalent in size to Osan Air Base (South Korea) and was constructed in only four years," said Lara Schoenenberger, contingency construction section chief for the Afghanistan reconstruction program at AFCEC.

Sell said AFCEC has executed more than $1 billion in projects in support of the Afghan National Army, including the Kabul Military Training Center -- which is equivalent to basic training facilities at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas -- and the first phase of construction of the Afghan National Security University. The university was modeled after the British Military Education and is capable of housing up to 3,000 cadets.

To support the Afghan National Police, the center managed $534 million in construction contracts, including the Kabul City Police Center, which created a centralized police headquarters for the country, and multiple recruiting stations in each province around Afghanistan.

Over the course of the mission, 123 AFCEC members deployed in support of the projects and overcame multiple challenges, Sell said. Extreme weather situations, coupled with surrounding safety and security threats, often led to inevitable project delays. The MOD facility alone was subject to six suicide bomber attacks and was often under high threat due to its proximity to the presidential palace.

"Collectively, we have achieved amazing results under the most challenging of conditions," said Col. James Hickman, former chief of the AFCEC Strategic Design and Construction Division.

While the major work in Afghanistan is complete, the center has several projects under its direction in other areas of responsibility around the globe.

"World events and their associated phases of military operations are all creating clear demand signals for more Air Force design and construction work, so that our U.S. Air Force missions can succeed in air, space and cyber domains," Hickman said.