WEBVTT

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^(upbeat electronic music)

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^- [Voiceover] The US Army Engineer, Research

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^and Development Center is demonstrating current,

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^all-weather landing surfaces for a limited assessment

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^of the troop to task set-up and tear-down times.

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^- We're here at the base defense assessment site,

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^at training area 190 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri,

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^where we're working with local engineer units

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^and demonstrating technologies

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for expedient heli-pad systems that could be used

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in a contingency base camp environment.

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- [Voiceover] Rotary wing aircraft operations

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on unimproved landing sites are often subject

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to brown-out conditions during landings.

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These expedient heli-pad systems help improve visibility

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and provide all-weather landing capabilities

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to expand available entry points

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during military operations and humanitarian relief efforts.

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The assessment appraises five systems

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in terms of planning, manpower, specialized equipment,

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and the time requirements to construct

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and disassemble the systems.

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- These types of systems are designed

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to be portable things that you would bring with you

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into that Fort area base.

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Once you're ready to move on,

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pack them back up and move them on to the next position.

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- [Voiceover] AM2 matting, lightweight AM2 matting,

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and tactical helimat are just a few of the systems

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the squad of soldiers will install

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during the expedient heli-pad assessment.

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Staff sergeant Sheriese Walker tells us

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about some of the challenges her squad faced

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during the heli-pad installation.

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^- Surface definitely has a huge impact

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^on laying the AM2 matting.

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^If it's not leveled and if it's not compacted right,

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^and it's not graded out properly,

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I'm not gonna say it's impossible,

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but I will say it makes it extremely difficult

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to put it down.

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Because some pieces would line up

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where other pieces would not.

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And then having to get the locking bar

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to slide in between the mattings was also a little bit

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of a difficult process because you have some

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that are level, some that are not level.

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So you had to find a way of making 'em level

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and putting the locking bars in.

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- [John] The soldiers behind me have

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just finished installing a heli-pad made out of AM2.

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This is a system that's been around for decades.

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Right now, the soldiers are finishing staking the perimeter

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of that pad so that we can have a helicopter

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land this afternoon.

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- [Voiceover] The soldiers faced a number of challenges

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with installing different heli-pad mattings,

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but the ground surface seemed to be the most problematic.

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Sergeant Calvin Harris tells us

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how he resolved those problems.

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- If the soil is decent and soft,

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^I'd prefer sledgehammers.

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^It's easy.

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^It's more labor, but it's easy.

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^With the skid steer, if we're workin' in real hard rock

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^and stuff like that, then, or the (mumbling),

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you use a hydraulic jack, in my opinion.

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We could use the forks to move the panels closer.

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We use the hydraulic jack (mumbling)

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to actually hammer in all the stakes and stuff.

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One side was real soft, and the other side was real hard,

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so it made it easier to, beatin' them by hand.

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(mumbling) ground is a lot harder.

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- So we now know

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why it's important to have

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the ground level properly graded, properly compacted.

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- [Voiceover] This assessment helps the army understand

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the manpower, equipment, and time-savings gained

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with providing pre-engineered,

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reusable kits for expedient heli-pads,

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while also minimizing the specialized troops required

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to complete the task.

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- We did use different type of materials

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when setting up different heli-pads

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and different FOBS and different OPS

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and what not down range.

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We had to use gravel,

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the different types of (mumbling).

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Obviously river rock, 'cause it's the hardest material

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out there and it's pretty much all that they had.

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- We're workin' with these soldiers, training them,

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using organic equipment with existing technology

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so that we can help provide additional capability

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to these contingency base camps

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where they can provide all-weather landing surfaces,

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dust covers, anything that can enable them

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to bring supplies in better in more environments,

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and help them move forward during operations.

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- [Voiceover] The AM2 heli-pad concept was validated

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by bringing a UH-60 Black Hawk to land

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once the pad was installed.

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At least one commercial system was also observed

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during a recent deployment.

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- While I was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan,

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they had the green matting that was laid down

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the other day, mostly is what I've seen.

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It would benefit us because one, it's not permanent.

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If you need to use it in another area,

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you can pick it up and go, so it's more feasible.

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- [Voiceover] ERDC has been working

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with the TRADOC community to transition technologies

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by performing these types of assessments.

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(mumbling)

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Mister Mike Fowler tells us how the soldiers' input helped

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to improve the transition.

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^- We rely heavily on the engineer specialty

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^here at the center.

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^Having those soldiers' input early helps cut back the time

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in getting the right solution to the soldier

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and helps us focus that capability on what they need,

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and more rapidly transfer that over to the program manager,

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who fields it to the soldier.

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- [Voiceover] This assessment may help future army forces

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increase flexibility and base operations

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through improved designs that are modular,

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scalable, and adaptable.

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For the Army Corps of Engineers, I'm Vince Mouzan.

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^(serene music)