Aussie base an oasis

Building: Constructing the warehouse for the new FLLA in the Middle East.

Surveying: Lt-Col Paul Hobbs and Cpl Lincoln Mathews during the construction.

By Capt Chantal Llora

THE new Force Level Logistic Asset (FLLA) facility in the Middle East has been officially opened in a ceremony held a little over two months after construction began.

Working hard: Draftsman Spr Michael Bellman at the engineering site.

Protection: Construction of the FLLA in the Middle East. Photos by Lt-Col Paul Hobbs

The new base will provide supplies and move troops to the various locations where Australians are based in Iraq.

The Engineer Project Team responsible for the design and construction of the facility worked many hours at its desert location to overcome the problems that arise when building a base in a foreign land.

The team of six – Lt-Col Paul Hobbs (project manager); Capt Tim Kuffer (project engineer); WO1 Glenn Bridges (works manager); Sgt Wayne Newby (works supervisor); Cpl Lincoln Mathews (works supervisor) and Spr Michael Bellman (draftsman) – arrived in the Middle East on March 8 and over the past few months took the project from inception to completion.

“When I think back to the magnitude of what we were undertaking, and the fact that we agreed to do it in two months, we were either extremely naïve or extremely stupid – but we did it,” Lt- Col Hobbs said.

Contractors and US Army engineers worked on the construction of the FLLA facility. It was hot, the work was hard, and at times the project team members thought they would never finish.

WO1 Bridges said, “It was frustrating at times but I tried to laugh it off. In the end we came up with the best possible solution to make things safe and right.”

During his visit, ACM Houston presented the project engineering team with a commendation for their efforts in making sure the new logistic base reflected the quality of the Australian troops who will depend upon it.

“What’s been achieved here is absolutely incredible and demonstrates the teamwork that must have been in play to produce such results – teamwork between the Australians, Americans and our local friends,” he said.

The base was designed to be relocatable and offers the only bit of greenery in the Middle East – a patch of grass imported straight from Australia.