NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Airmen from the 820th RED HORSE Squadron worked alongside the 99th Civil Engineer Squadron to pave a new access road replacing Ellsworth road. This new project will improve the safety of Airmen by directing vehicle traffic around, rather than through, the parking areas and buildings.
“It’s one of the mainly used routes,” said SSgt Chris Lineback, 820th RED HORSE Equipment Operator. “It went from absolutely nothing to a full on 4,500 foot road.”
The project is being completed in two parts: first by 99th CES and their contractor and the other by 820th RED HORSE. It also provides a great training opportunity for future deployments.
“It’s a lot easier to learn the technical aspects of it here,” said Capt. Austin Flues, 820th RED HORSE Project Manager. “Then when you go downrange and you’re in a contested environment, you know what you’re doing. It’s a lot easier to just do that here versus trying to learn under those additional constraints.”
The construction started in November 2021 and is scheduled to be completed May 25th, 2022. The partial opening is currently scheduled for April 29th.
“It’s twofold,” said Flues. “The base gets the benefit of a brand new road that doesn’t weave in between buildings and endanger Airmen, and then we get the benefit of the training so that when we deploy, we can execute the same type of job very quickly.”