Patching Runways Is A Weekly Task That Keeps Pilots And Airplanes Flying, And Landing, Safely

Senior Airman Jacob Cleer, a heavy equipment operator assigned to the 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, wrestles his 30-pound jackhammer into place and begins pounding the pavement on one of two landing strips at an air base somewhere in the region defined by the military as "Southwest Asia." Cleer is working on a patch of runway that had begun to crumble a few days earlier. There are a half-dozen other sections he is scheduled to excavate the same day. Each of the crumbling patches, called a spall, is riddled with fractured concrete that could damage an aircraft during takeoffs and landings if not repaired soon.

Jacob Cleer USAF Photo

Behind him, Airman Cleer's coworkers on the 386th ECES' runway repair team are busily mixing a cement-like mortar to pour into the holes he's making. They'll patch the voids with a form of concrete that cures rapidly so the runway can reopen in just three hours. The team has been making these repairs every Friday morning since June, when Airman Cleer and his teammates first arrived in the U.S. Central Command Area of Operations. In those six months, the members of the 386th ECES have repaired hundreds of spalls by pouring more than 180 cubic feet of fresh mortar.

Spalls pose a very real danger to aircraft at the airstrip, where thousands of takeoffs and landings happen annually as part of 24/7 airlift operations conducted by members of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing.

"There's always more work to do, fixing these spalls," Airman Cleer said, rubbing his arm after several minutes of excavation. "The jackhammer sends vibrations through your whole body, and your elbows get pretty sore after a few hours. But you get used to it. And this mission is the reason I'm here. We've got to maintain."

The main imperative is speed, explained Capt. Jason Adams, the chief of operations for the 386th ECES. "The runway is obviously a mission-essential asset, but we have to close it to conduct repair work," Captain Adams said. "Even though we have two runways here, we work pretty rapidly so no runway has to be closed for an extended period of time. Our shop can do up to 20 patches in a single four-hour period, and the runway is available for use a few hours after that."

File Photo

"The biggest threat that spalls pose to heavy aircraft like C-130 (Hercules) and C-17 (Globemaster IIIs) is tire damage, which can be pretty dangerous during landings," Captain Adams said. "Other aircraft are much lower to the ground and can actually suck lose concrete into the engines during takeoffs and landings, causing millions of dollars in damage."

Preventing that kind of damage is the main point of runway repair, he said, but the 386th ECES members' true impact is much broader. "Our runways are where the rubber meets the road," Captain Adams said. "Without them, the wing wouldn't be able to conduct its airlift mission. So runway repair is about more than simply preventing aircraft damage from loose concrete. It's also about keeping our runways in serviceable condition, so they can stay operational and the wing can continue to support the fight throughout the (area of responsibility)."

Staff Sgt. Brandon Terhune, another heavy equipment operator and runway repair specialist in the 386th ECES, said he and his teammates draw a tremendous amount of satisfaction from that. "It's a great feeling to know that what we're doing is making a real difference in the mission of this wing every day," he said. "We do our jobs very well, and I know I sleep better at night because of that."

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