Nellis squadron delayed on return from Afghanistan

Jace Radke

Friday, June 14, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

More than 250 members of the 820th Red Horse Civil Engineering squadron thought they would be back home in Las Vegas early this morning, but instead they find themselves stuck in Maine until this evening.

The squadron, based at Nellis Air Force Base, was on its way back from a five-month mission in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom when the plane experienced mechanical problems and was forced to land in Maine.

"It's disappointing for everyone, because we were expecting them back by now," said Maj. Veronica Kemeny, a Nellis spokeswoman. "The wives are a little frustrated because they had the house cleaned and the makeup perfect, and now there is a delay."

The squadron left for Afghanistan in January to construct a runway for use by U.S. military aircraft during Operation Enduring Freedom. The runway was among the biggest projects ever undertaken by the squadron and when completed took up the area of about 20 football fields.

The squadron provides support, engineering and infrastructure for U.S. forces abroad, and also undertakes humanitarian projects.

In the past three years Red Horse has helped repair airport runways in Albania, built a school in Grenada and worked to repair damage caused by Hurricane Mitch in El Salvador.

Red Horse squadrons were first introduced by the Air Force in 1965 to give the service mobile engineering capabilities in emergency situations.

The 820th was established in 1966, and in 1970 was moved from Da Nang, Vietnam, to Lake Mead Naval Base, now known as Area II at Nellis Air Force Base.