Self-help project keeps guards safe at Kirkuk

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jessica Lockoski
  • 506th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
KIRKUK REGIONAL AIR BASE, Iraq --  What provides better force protection: multiple layers of ballistics material or a three-quarters inch sheet of plywood?

Thanks to a self-help recycling and construction project by Airmen in Kirkuk's 506th Air Expeditionary Group, people who stand perimeter guard here are receiving fortified guard towers made with ballistic material.

"These new towers have Kevlar installed in them and are as ballistic as we can make them," said Tech. Sgt. Shawn Quinn, NCO in charge of physical security for the 506th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron. Sergeant Quinn is a reservist from Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass.

Members of the group's security forces and civil engineers squadron pitched to build the project.

"We're replacing the towers made from plywood with metal framed ballistic ones," said Master Sgt. Jonathan Gambill, NCO in charge of the 506th Civil Engineer Squadron Structures Shop. "The old towers are starting to fall apart, leaning over and sinking into the ground."

One Airman considers it a gamble just to work.

"When I step into one of the wooden towers it almost feels like you are rolling the dice of life," said Senior Airman Hector Carbrera, 506th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron perimeter guard and a reservist deployed from March ARB, Calif.

Sergeant Quinn said the old wooden towers didn't provide any protection from bullets, but the new towers will stop or fragment bullets fired at them. To ensure a stronger level of ballistic capability, the construction materials, including new bullet-proof glass, were subjected to multiple ballistic penetration test. The results yielded an 80-90 percent increase in safety.

The Air Force originally contracted out the construction of 12 ballistic towers the Springfield, Mass., native said. However, the first of these contract towers failed ballistic testing.

To get Airmen out of harm's way, the civil engineers worked with security forces Airmen to design the new towers and produce them with surplus materials found on base, said Sergeant Gambill, who helped with the initial design of the towers.

"With the use of the materials found on base, the towers are costing us about $5,000," said Sergeant Gambill, who is deployed from Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. "If we were to have the same towers built on the local economy it would cost about $100,000."

Sergeant Gambill said that although the self-help project saves money, the key goal was to get our men and women out of harm's way.

"Building these towers makes me feel like I'm protecting these troops who are spending 12 to 14 hours per day in them," said Sergeant Quinn. "I could possibly be helping save a life."

After using one of the new towers he helped to construct, Airman Carbrera now feels more protected and at ease.

"The new towers offer a more secure work place and a greater peace of mind for the troops manning them," he said.

Airman Carbrera added the new towers have heating and air conditioning, providing a more comfortable environment for his co-workers. 

(Air Force Reserve Command News Service)