RED HORSE team rides in for Ulchi Freedom Guardian

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Kimberly Spinner
  • 7th Air Force Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2011 augmentees from across the globe arrived at Osan Air Base to find a tent city already set up by the  254th Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operations Repair Squadron Engineer (RED HORSE).

Ulchi Freedom Guardian is an annual computer-assisted simulation command post exercise, and like all such exercises, it will focus on training service members while exercising senior leaders' decision-making capabilities.

Preparing for and supporting exercises like this are not new to the 254th. The Air National Guard RED HORSE members, from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, have been supporting exercises on Osan since 2006.

"We are here to support those participating in the exercise and ensure their living conditions are in place," said Master Sgt. Robert Guzman 254th RED HORSE acting first sergeant. "We make sure we make them feel at home and they get the rest they need to do their jobs well and they go home safely."

Their primary mission here is to assess, establish and maintain contingency facilities and infrastructure in the Rush Park life sustainment center, commonly referred to as 'Tent City.'

"Our ADVON team of seven arrived July 23rd; they planned for the infrastructure build up and coordinated support agreements with base units," said Tech. Sgt. Glenn Bamba, 254th RED HORSE Squadron Logistics Technician.

Their ten-member sustainment team, which setup and now maintains the facilities, includes equipment operators, structures, utilities, HVAC, heavy equipment and an entomologist. The team had just five days to setup and prepare the entire Tent City for hundreds of augmentees coming from dozens of bases and commands around the globe.

"We setup the tents, prepped the K-SPANs, made sure the lights were working in the streets, there was electricity in the tents, the washers and dryers worked and the toilets all flushed prior to the augmentees coming in," said Sgt. Bamba.

This unique group of individuals is capable of rapid response and independent operations in remote, high-threat environments worldwide. They have the ability to provide heavy repair and construction when requirements exceed traditional civil engineer unit capabilities.

In addition to maintaining the tent city, the team assists base personnel where needed.

"We are here to alleviate the base's workload," said Sgt. Bamba.

The engineers have gone above and beyond their primary duties by lending a hand to Osan units by utilizing forklifts to move equipment and checking air conditioner units.

A part of being in RED HORSE is being able to think outside the box, like when they identified a problem with waste management and quickly had it remedied.

"In order to maintain sanitary conditions in tent city, we have had to do the dumping of refuse ourselves," said Sgt. Bamba. "We had to plan for that and create a procedure in order to keep everyone safe."

Lt. Col. Matthew Wallace, 95th Mission Support Group Deputy Commander from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Tent City Mayor here, appreciates what the RED HORSE team has accomplished.

"We would not be able to support the 413 Department of Defense personnel living in tent city, to include Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines without the professionalism and dedication the 254th brings to the fight," said Col. Wallace.