specialreport DEFENSE LOGISTICS
thing that can pull anything out of anywhere,” he said.
The new and improved JRADS can lift vehicles with missing or damaged wheels or axles, as well as overturn and
recover vehicles parallel to it. It can also transport vehicles
over rough terrain, which is essential in Afghanistan.
Many of the changes that were made to the JRADS dealt
with minor issues, such as adding retractable steps to allow
soldiers to climb up the trailers.
Gary Noah, JRADS field support representative for
Boeing, said his company and the U.S. Transportation
Command took to heart the soldiers’ suggestions for
improving the vehicle.
“We looked at … their recommendations and added
quite a few of them,” he said. “The soldier input is invaluable. They’re the ones who have to use it every day on mission, so we hold their opinions in high regard.”
“Just like a new home”
Lifeliners’ “B-Huts in a Box” project gives soldiers better quality of life.
BY SGT. 1ST CLASS PETE MAYES,
101ST SUSTAINMENT BRIGADE
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN—As any soldier
deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring
Freedom will attest, living conditions can be pretty rough.
Along with the weather and sandstorms, living out of a
tent or a deteriorating B-Hut—a wooden structure that can
house up to eight soldiers—can be a challenge. This is
where Sgt. 1st Class Phillip Schafer and his crew come in.
Schafer and his team are responsible for “B-Huts in a Box,”
a project to deliver all of the materials and supplies necessary
to build new living quarters for soldiers assigned to remote
forward operating bases (FOBs) throughout Afghanistan.
The intent is to improve the living conditions of soldiers
on the front lines by replacing tents and deteriorating B-
Huts with new accommodations, Schafer said. “It’s like buy-
ing a new house. Every soldier is glad to move into some-
thing newer or better.”
The “B-Hut in a Box” units, nicknamed “Schafer Shacks,”
consist of a “Conex”—a conveyance akin to a railroad
freight car—filled with lumber, sheets of plywood, insula-
tion, electrical hardware, and other material needed to con-
struct a complete open-bay B-Hut. They also come with
blueprints and building instructions.
Schafer said the idea originated in April after an excess of
imported lumber was found in a holding yard in Kabul.
Leaders then decided to evenly distribute the lumber to the
various FOBs throughout Afghanistan, he said.
“Brigade Commander Col. [Michael] Peterman threw
out the phrase, ‘B-Hut in a Box’ and then tasked me to bring
the idea to fruition,” Schafer said.
So far, Schafer said he and his crew have assembled
approximately 50 “B-Hut in a Box” containers and sent
them out. The crew also employs local Afghan workers to
help assemble the materials.
Spc. Jason Morrison, a soldier with the 101st Sustainment
Brigade, is assigned to demonstrate to the local nationals how
to bundle the items to stuff the Conexes. Morrison speaks
SPC. JASON MORRISON OF THE 101ST SUSTAINMENT BRIGADE HELPS SGT.
JUSTIN SCOTT GUIDE SHEETS OF PLYWOOD INSIDE A CONEX. THE PLYWOOD,
ALONG WITH OTHER BUILDING MATERIAL, IS USED TO HELP SOLDIERS CONSTRUCT THEIR OWN WOODEN B-HUTS IN REMOTE FORWARD OPERATING
BASES THROUGHOUT AFGHANISTAN.
(PHOTO BY SGT. 1ST CLASS PETE MAYES)
highly of the Afghan locals. “They help out a lot,” he said. “Even
though many of them can’t speak English and we don’t know
their language, hand signals work pretty good. You show them
one time, and they’re pretty much good from there.”
For many involved in the project, job satisfaction comes
from knowing they are helping improve their fellow sol-
diers’ quality of life so far from home.
“We’re the ones putting this together to help other soldiers have better living conditions,” said Spc. Gamalier
Mendez of the 131th Transportation Co., a Pennsylvania
National Guard unit assigned to the 17th Combat
Sustainment Support Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade.
Sgt. Justin Scott, a military heavy-equipment operator
with the 919th Inland Cargo Transportation Co., an Army
Reserve unit based out of Bay City, Mich., and also assigned
to the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 101st
Sustainment Brigade, echoed Mendez’s sentiments.
“It offers an opportunity to provide more stable housing
out to those areas. It’s not as easy to get these materials to
those areas on trucks in bulk, and this can provide a little
more comfort and possibly more security for the soldiers’
personal items,” he said.
