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File: aaabm_04.txt
hours and weeks and months without breaks was shared by most of the HQ USAFE
ES&ABO team as they pulled together to provide the information and equipment
needed for the front lines.
The enormity of the task can best be understood by looking at the total
numbers. During the almost five months of Operation DESERT SHIELD, over
500,000 troops, 1,000 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, 1,500 helicopters, 1,300
combat aircraft, and all their associated equipment and supplies were moved
into a bare base situation. To support these combat forces, a massive array
of support facilities, equipment and services were needed. The ESRC deployed
25% of USAFE's Rapid Engineer, Deployable, Heavy Operational Repair Squadron,
Engineering (RED HORSE) construction equipment (1,560 tons) used for the
initial beddown of combat units in the area of responsibility (AOR), 99%
of the fire rescue vehicles at collocated operating bases (total of 104), 100% of
our war reserve materiel (WRM) fire extinguishers (611), 70% of our AM-2
matting (3,500 bundles), 25% of our Disaster Preparedness(DP) personnel with
210 chemical detectors ("sniffers"), 61% of our Explosive Ordnance Disposal
(EOD) personnel (about 100), 39% of our EOD WRM equipment, 37 of our armored
personnel carriers and 20 of our M-60 tanks for mass ordnance clearance, Prime
Readiness in Base Services (Prime RIBS) cooks, fuel systems parts, and
countless other items. A total of 799 ES&ABO people and 10,600 short tons of
ES&ABO equipment for the war.
The ESRC is USAFE's primary point of contact between the ES&ABO community and
all outside organizations during contingencies. Nowhere was this liaison
action more intense than it was with the logistics community. A major part of
USAFE's involvement was the equipment support given to USCENTCOM. ES&ABO
personnel spent many long hours with the folks from the logistics community
sourcing items that are unique to our career field. Everything from water
purification and storage assets to blankets and cots, from entire RED HORSE
equipment sets to flightline fire extinguishers and from generators to fire
trucks. It was this intense working relationship on a day-to-day,
hour-to-hour basis that ensured that ES&ABO assets were identified, prepared
and moved quickly.
As it became apparent that units from Europe would be deploying to SWA
in support of USCENTCOM and the multinational force, people in the USEUCOM AOR
realized that there was insufficient information about the locations they
would be deploying to. It was then that the Readiness Division staff utilized
on of their strengths: Airfield and facility intelligence. This was first
implemented when a request came from the Canadian Air Forces Europe at Lahr
AB, Germany, for assistance in mobilizing. The Canadian Prime Minister had
directed F-18 fighters from Lahr and Baden Sollingen, Germany, to deploy to
WA, but no Canadian units had deployed since World War II, having always
trained in-place. Captain Rose of the Readiness Division participated in a
briefing with representatives from Operations, Security Police, and Logistics
to assist the two Canadian fighter squadrons in their deployment
preparations. The data imagery gathered by the ESRC about beddown locations,
climate, surroundings and enemy territory was critical to the successful
integration of the Canadian Forces into the allied air armada. The technical
assets and files available to the ESRC allowed the quick collection and
dissemination of critical intelligence that was key to this deployment and to
others as USAFE fighter units joined the operation.
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