SeaBees Repair Runway at Logistics Hub

By Lance Cpl. Ben Eberle
1st Marine Logistics Group

CAMP TAQADDUM — Camp Taqaddum is considered the logistics hub of Iraq due to its existing infrastructure and proximity to major supply routes, but the base's single runway has presented somewhat of a logistical challenge.

Navy construction workers, or "SeaBees," and Marine combat engineers have responded by repairing 10 miles of concrete on Camp Taqaddum's flight line. They plan to have both base runways operational by Feb. 1, 2007.

"It's the largest SeaBee project in Iraq," said Chief Petty Officer Anthony Chance, operations manager for Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74, 3rd Naval Construction Regiment, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Many factors have contributed to the runway damage, including American ordnance.

Allied forces initially attacked Al Taqaddum air base in January 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. They struck again at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, crippling Saddam Hussein's logistical and offensive capabilities through precision air strikes on the airfield.

Since the coalition takeover in 2003, indirect fire from insurgents and heavy air traffic going through the base has resulted in more damage, said Chance, a 41-year-old from Long Beach, Miss.

Inferior construction is also contributing to the airfield's gradual deterioration. Chance said European contractors used low-grade concrete when they built the runways in 1985.

Regardless of what caused the damage, pilots currently flying into Camp Taqaddum can use only one of its runways. Because they can't use any of the taxiways either, planes make a U-turn after landing and use the same runway to drive back to the terminal area.

This monopolizes the base's only functional landing strip and has delayed or cancelled incoming flights, said Chance.

Repairing the inoperative runway and the conjoining taxiways will help end the delays and increase airline traffic from places around the world, such as Kuwait, Germany, Turkey and the United States. This will increase the flow of supplies into the Iraqi theater and boost the war fighters' effectiveness, said Chance.

More than 60 SeaBees and Marines work in shifts – day and night, seven days a week – to repair the airfield.

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