Engineer Construction
101
Base course stockpile area for work at KingFahd International Airport. The lack of an adequate
source of base course in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia
contractors to haul material
from Abu Hadryiah, 100 kilometers away.
The limited capability of the services to produce asphalt, concrete, or
crushed rock resulted in heavy reliance upon host nation assets and delayed
essential construction projects. No service brought into the theater adequate
resources to produce asphalt, concrete, or crushed rock, either because they had
underestimated the need for these resources or because of the limitations on
transporting heavy equipment.
The civil engineer support plan's generator assumed that all construction
materials would be transported to the theater of operations. In reality, local
contractors provided most of the Class IV construction materials. The severe
shortage convinced Colonel Flowers that in the future the Army should
establish strategic stockpiles of such materials.38
The 411th Engineer Brigade reported that obtaining Class IV material was
a major challenge. Planners had expected to obtain construction materials
through the DD Form 1391 process, but this process could not react quickly
enough for critical projects. The brigade requested materials to establish Class
IV yards and to obtain aggregate and asphalt products. Local contractors had
to purchase these materials. After the Gulf War, the commander of the 411th
would report, "The shortage of Class IV material proved to be critical to the
mission." He recommended that engineers be activated early to obtain key
equipment and supplies for their projects.39
Asphalt was particularly critical. Units needed asphalt pavement to control
the dust and sand around helipads, airfields, hardstands, wash racks,
warehouses, large "festival" tents, and other relocatable structures. Yet engineer
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