Beyond the Horizon Engineers Deconstruct Billets on Soto Cano

U.S. Military
Beyond the Horizon Engineers Deconstruct Billets on Soto Cano
By Staff Sgt. Danny McCormick, Beyond the Horizon Public Affairs Office
May 14, 2008 - 12:36:29 PM

Blackanthem Military News

Beyond the Horizon engineers used a day that they were restricted to the base to deconstruct five billets. Deconstruction is a 'green' term used when the materials from the project are salvaged or recycled. 70% of the materials were recovered during this project. Engineers from the 389th Engineer Company, the 1023rd Engineer Company and the 379th Engineer Battalion participated in the mission which included the complete deconstruction of one billet and partial deconstruction of four more. Photo by Staff Sgt. Danny McCormick, Beyond the Horizon Public Affairs Office.

SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras - "Today was a deconstruction mission, not a demolition mission," explains Lt. Col. Mark Snoozy, Beyond the Horizon (BTH) project officer, "seventy percent of the materials were either recovered or recycled."

The mission he speaks of is the tearing down of five billets here. The work was accomplished on a day that the engineers were restricted to base and unable to go to their regular worksites.

Col. Terry Klinker, the BTH, Partnership for the Americas Engagement Team (PAET), commander said of the event, "We are more than happy to do one to five day engineering projects here. We should be finishing up projects at La Granja and Jose Trinidad before the last rotation arrives and we can use those extra people to do some work for Soto Cano."

This is not only a way to keep the engineers busy, but it is a way to help those that have hosted the BTH exercise here.

The joint engineering operation with Honduran and U.S. military personnel will renovate three schools; construct two new schools, four lavatories, four water towers and one storage shed in various rural towns throughout the country.

Klinker says that the engineers have also been able to do some extra work at the sites that they hadn't planned on doing when they first came here, but the work was necessary and within budget.

Work such as adding a water tower at the Jose Trinidad School. The water lines coming into the school provided little more than a trickle, Klinker said, "so the engineers opened up a constriction in the water main and they now have fifteen feet of head pressure coming in."

At La Granja, the existing school was deemed unstable and was completely deconstructed. This was only to be a reconstruction until BTH examined the structure.

The construction site at Marcala received a new septic tank and the latrines were redone according to Klinker.

But even with all this added work, the BTH engineers are still moving ahead of schedule on most of the worksites. Many of which will be completed before the last two week rotation of engineers arrives. Having projects on Soto Cano will be paramount during this last rotation.

Capt. Tracy Hadfield, OIC for the 379th Engineer Battalion of Missoula, Mont., oversaw the deconstruction project, "the purpose of a deconstruction project is to recover as much salvageable material as possible. These five buildings were infested with termites and much of the debris was taken to a burn pile."

Snoozy said, "The recyclable material was placed into containers or stacked next to them just beyond the burn pile, to be used by contractors for other projects"

Klinker explains, "There is a shortage of lumber here, so the 2 x 12s can be reused to replace stairs on some of the other buildings."

BTH was hoping to use some of the salvaged paneling to strengthen some floors in a few of the tents they have at 'tent city' where the rotational units are housed, but the paneling was deemed too thin for that purpose and was placed in storage instead.

Of the five billets that were deconstructed, only one was torn completely down; the other four had their siding and windows removed and stand as frame houses right now.

When asked why these four remain standing, Klinker explained, "The one structure that was torn completely down had a tin roof. The other four have ceramic tile roofs and can't be knocked over with a bulldozer until the roofs are removed. They also have power lines too close to the roofs and a contractor will have to remove them before the project can be completed."

To keep these skeleton structures safe, some lumber was used to 'shore' up the walls to keep them from collapsing.

No definite time has been set to complete the deconstruction of these four billets, but if BTH is still on the ground, you can be sure that they will help with the work.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

Beyond the Horizon engineers remove nails from salvageable wood and stack recovered materials from a billet deconstruction project. Deconstruction is a 'green' term used when the materials from the project are salvaged or recycled. 70% of the materials were recovered during this project. Engineers from the 389th Engineer Company, the 1023rd Engineer Company and the 379th Engineer Battalion participated in the mission which included the complete deconstruction of one billet and partial deconstruction of four more. Photo by Staff Sgt. Danny McCormick, Beyond the Horizon Public Affairs Office.

A Beyond the Horizon engineer removes nails from salvaged wood from a billet deconstruction project. Deconstruction is a 'green' term used when the materials from the project are salvaged or recycled. 70% of the materials were recovered during this project. Engineers from the 389th Engineer Company, the 1023rd Engineer Company and the 379th Engineer Battalion participated in the mission which included the complete deconstruction of one billet and partial deconstruction of four more. Photo by Staff Sgt. Danny McCormick, Beyond the Horizon Public Affairs Office.

A Beyond the Horizon engineer steps over some wood as he strolls past stacks of recovered materials from a billet deconstruction project. Unsalvageable material, such as that which has been placed into the trash can, will be taken to a burn pile. Deconstruction is a 'green' term used when the materials from the project are salvaged or recycled. 70% of the materials were recovered during this project. Engineers from the 389th Engineer Company, the 1023rd Engineer Company and the 379th Engineer Battalion participated in the mission which included the complete deconstruction of one billet and partial deconstruction of four more. Photo by Staff Sgt. Danny McCormick, Beyond the Horizon Public Affairs Office.

Beyond the Horizon engineers stack salvageable wood from a billet deconstruction project onto a flatbed for movement to a storage container. Deconstruction is a 'green' term used when the materials from the project are salvaged or recycled. 70% of the materials were recovered during this project. Engineers from the 389th Engineer Company, the 1023rd Engineer Company and the 379th Engineer Battalion participated in the mission which included the complete deconstruction of one billet and partial deconstruction of four more. Photo by Staff Sgt. Danny McCormick, Beyond the Horizon Public Affairs Office.

Beyond the Horizon engineers used a day that they were restricted to the base to deconstruct these billets. Deconstruction is a 'green' term used when the materials from the project are salvaged or recycled. 70% of the materials were recovered during this project. Engineers from the 389th Engineer Company, the 1023rd Engineer Company and the 379th Engineer Battalion participated in the mission which included the complete deconstruction of one billet and partial deconstruction of four more. Photo by Staff Sgt. Danny McCormick, Beyond the Horizon Public Affairs Office.