JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Snow begins to fall on Joint Base Andrews.
Yellow snow plows rumble to life; the sound of massive engines reverberates off the concrete and metal walls of the snow barn, a building housing rows of heavy equipment and milling operators. Giant doors open to reveal a torrent of snow and ice steadily falling on the air field.
The great machines lurch forward, blades poised, and rumble across the vast stretches of pavement in a staggered line, clearing snow, shaving pavement and cleaving the small light poles that dot runways and taxiways like toothpicks.
They mark a trail of dark, wet pavement through the snow, battling the forces of nature to keep planes in the air.
Keeping the flight line clear, an essential aspect of mission success, is a monumental task.
"It's a multi-agency effort between Air Field Operations creating a plan and directing snow removal, Civil Engineer Squadrons clearing the flight line and the flying units remaining flexible and coordinating their situations," said Maj. Josef Wein, 89th Operation Support Squadron director of operations. "It takes a lot of coordination, but it's vital to the mission."
The complexity of the efforts to keep aircraft in the air during adverse weather is reflected in the time it takes to clear an entire flight line.
"Snow removal can take anywhere from one to eight hours depending on the accumulation, and we're always subject to constantly falling snow," Wein said. "By prioritizing who needs what now, we can keep the tarmac clear for mission essential and alert operations."
Clearing the snow can stretch into long days for the Airmen in the "snow cab," an observation deck on the flight line that coordinate the efforts of ground teams and the Airmen operating plows and brooms below.
"Air Field Management and CE rotate out in 12-hour shifts," Wein said. "We'll be out there 24/7, come hell or high water."
This multi-agency effort can produce some impressive results.
"After a particularly heavy snowfall last year, we made CNN as the only runway open in the National Capital Region," Wein said. "We take a lot of pride in that."
The operations start with a report from the National Weather Service.
"They're looking out for snow 48 hours in advance," Wein said. "This year, they've been right four out of four times."
This accuracy is key in the next stage: mission planning.
"The 11th and 89th wings meet to prioritize missions and plan the course of action," Wein said.
After the plan has been finalized, the execution stage begins.
"We're in the snow cab two hours before snow is projected to fall," Wein said. "We test the friction of the tarmac and coordinate deviations from the plan with our CE liaison and the operators."
The amount of snow and ice on the flight line, and the effect it has on aircraft tires, is tested by an airfield friction meter.
"We use a contraption called a Bowmonk to measure the plane's ability to break on the runway and taxiways," said Wein. "We put it in our truck, reach a designated speed, break on the ice, and check the reading it gives us."
The reading given on this machine, along with the amount of accumulation, determines the equipment used in clearing the snow and ice.
"We use special brooms mounted on heavy equipment on small amounts of accumulation and the plows on larger amounts," said Tech. Sgt. Miguel Landeros, a pavements and equipment craftsman with the 11th CES. "We also can pre-treat the pavement with special chemicals to stop ice buildup and break up what ice does form."
The snow plows and brooms continue run as long as snow is falling.
"They're the first ones out and the last ones in," said Tech. Sgt. Jerimy Garvin, 11th CES NCO in-charge of heavy equipment. "Anyone can be called for this duty, so we know we have the manpower to get it done."
Operating one of these massive machines is not easy.
"We don't drive snow ploys, we operate them," said Tech. Sgt. Garvin. "We spend 40 hours training our operators, not to mention all the refresh training we do to keep our guys sharp."
After the snow has been plowed, the banks are dispersed into the flight line infields with machinery outfitted with vacuums and blowers.
"The blowers shoot snow up to 150 feet," said Landeros. "If the snow builds up too much, the banks will damage wing tips."
Even after the snow is done falling, the job doesn't stop.
"We have teams monitoring for ice that may form when the wet pavement stays wet and the temperature drops," said Garvin.
Work is also being done in the snow barn, the building used to house plows and other equipment.
"Snow operations continue, well after the flight line is clear, in the snow barn," Landeros said. "We have blades to replace, machines to fix and inventory to take for everything that has been used."
Inside the snow barn, action buzzes everywhere. Engines sputter and cough, power drills and other tools whiz and clank, the sharp tang of diesel permeates the air of the darkened warehouse.
A man lies on a creeper, the back rest with wheels that mechanics use, under the goliath blade of a snow plow, red drill in hand, attaching the tip to a nut on the blade while another man holds the bolt steady.
The drill spins, deafeningly loud, and pulls the nut off.
He slides the creeper lengthwise under the narrow space under the razor edge of metal to the next bolt. Again he removes the screw, acrobatic in the cramped space, and slides down again.
"You know what the worst part of this job is?" asks Edward Bell, 11th CES heavy equipment operator, as he fixes the drill on the next nut. "When I get home, my wife asks me to plow the driveway."
Bell is one of many in the snow barn working on equipment, representing the 11th CES, 11th Logistics Readiness Squadron and others.
"The 11th Wing Logistics Readiness Squadron is instrumental in keeping our machines running, their role can't be overstated," said Landeros. "We had a vehicle's hydraulic line break, rendering the vehicle inoperable. LRS had it fixed and back out on the flight line in three hours."
It's these relationships between units that keep the flight line clear and JBA aircraft ready for anything.