Nellis to welcome back home Red Horse Squadron from Qatar

Jace Radke

Wednesday, March 3, 2004 | 8:36 a.m.

About 90 members of the Nellis-based 820th Red Horse Civil Engineering Squadron were expected to return to Las Vegas today after five months of service in the Middle East.

The unit was deployed to Qatar, a country bordered by the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia, southeast of Iraq. The squadron members completed $8 million in construction work, including eight buildings in Qatar, Nellis Air Force Base spokeswoman Capt. Angela Johnson said.

The deployment marks the second time the unit has been sent to the Middle East in support of the war on terrorism. In 2002 the unit spent about six months in Afghanistan, where the mobile civil engineers built the infrastructure for a military airport, including hangars and a 1 million-square-foot aircraft parking apron.

In all, $26 million in infrastructure was built by the squadron. The work allowed Air Force planes to provide better support during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

More than 200 Red Horse members received medals for their work in Afghanistan.

The squadron is a mobile heavy construction unit that can be deployed on military and humanitarian missions. Since 1999 the squadron has repaired airport runways in Albania, built a school in Grenada, worked to repair damage caused by Hurricane Mitch in El Salvador and constructed roads and buildings in the Caribbean.

The 820th, one of three active duty Red Horse Squadrons, is a self-sufficient unit with its own personnel for medical, supply, food services and mechanical needs.