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File: aacep_02.txt2 recovering a base after attack, found themselves performing beddown operation with equipment and mobility basing sets they had never seen before. Air Force Services personnel had to feed thousands of deployed troops and faced the prospect of employing mortuary skills they hoped they would never used Bare Base Concepts* The Air Force's mobility commitment in the post-World War II era required a capability to rapidly deploy aircraft, complete with supporting functions and facilities, capable of independently supporting and launching sustained combat operations with the same independence as fixed theater installations. However, it became clear that certain nations that might request assistance from the U.S. Air Force would balk at the construction of permanent bases or facilities on their territory. The answer was a basing system that could be transportable quickly erected capable of supporting air operations, and could be quickly dismantled. The Air Force had to become capable of operating from a bare base. The classic definition of a bare base was a site with a usable runway taxiway parking areas and a source of water that can be made potable. A bare base required mobile facilities, utilities, and support equipment that could rapidly transform undeveloped real estate into an operational air base. The Air Force teas been working on the development of transportable facilities for use at remote and austere locations since the 1950. The original portable basing set, Gray Eagle was designed to support an 1100-person deployment. The Air Force first used it during the Vietnam War at Cam Ranh Bay and Phan Rang Air Bases (ABs)] e In the late 1960s, the package was expanded and made more air transportable and given the name Harvest Eagle. The Air Force expanded its mobility basing concept with Harvest Bare, a new set of facilities that were lightweight, modular, and designed to be C-130 transportable. Some of the facilities were designed to be hardwall and would serve as their own shipping containers. The Air Force tested and validated the Harvest Bare design in 1970 as Created in the 1980s, Harvest Falcon combined aspects of both Harvest Eagle and Harvest Bare designs. Harvest Falcon was designed specifically for Southwest Asia (SWAT operations (i.e. no freeze protection]. The most common personnel shelter was the TEMPER (Tent, Extendable, Modular, Personnel) Tent. These tan- colored, soft-wall structures were modular, frame-supported tents that could be assembled without tools. Each section was twenty feet wide and eight feet long. The standard billeting TEMPER Tent comprised four sections. The tents included lighting, liners, Insulated floors, and an air conditioning distribution system. Environmental control units both cooled and heated the tents. An experienced crew of four could assemble a four-section TEMPER Tent in about an hour. Harvest Falcon used Harvest Bare structures such as the expandable personnel shelters (EXPs). These units featured
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