Taking care of Incirlik Airmen on all levels

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. S.J.B. Bryant
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey (USAFENS) --  Imagine if the military personnel of the base were instantly doubled. So, instead of about 1,400 people assigned to Incirlik, there were now 2,500.

No need to imagine such an event, it has already happened.

“We take the place of active duty personnel,” said Michael Flynn, Vinnell Brown and Root program manager. “We have approximately 1,100 Turkish nationals and 86 Americans doing many of the same jobs military members in the U.S. are doing. For example, here, VBR is doing most of the civil engineer duties.”

While VBR employees make up the bulk of the 39th Civil Engineer Squadron, there are other areas on base where VBR contracted members make life at “The Lik” easier on Airmen.

“We are almost everywhere the Airmen are,” said Mr. Flynn. “We repair the roads they drive on, we maintain the BX and Commissary they shop in, we coordinate the Turkish Blue Books they need to stay in country, we operate the power plant, sewage facility and water works. We do everything but help them call home and secure the base.”

One of the more obvious places Airmen might see VBR support is at the dining facility where all the servers, cooks and kitchen staff are employed by VBR.

“They play a vital part in the running of an award-winning dining facility,” said Vic Hayes, 39th Services Squadron deputy commander. “They are an award-winning team and the facility couldn’t run smoothly without them.”

Where would Incirlik golfers be without VBR employees maintaining the greens, reminded Mr. Flynn, who manages the multi-million dollar per year Incirlik project, which includes Geographically Separated Units at Izmir and Ankara.

The majority of that multi-million dollar project is comprised of duties within the 39th CES. VBR employees operate all the base infrastructure, design, budgets, construction, aircraft arresting barriers and runway pavement just to name a few jobs.

They are also in charge of all the base plumbing, environmental security and interior/exterior electrical duties. One of the most important areas VBR controls is the fire department, which is made up of nothing but VBR employees.

VBR employees work as hard as the military members stationed here because some of them are retired military members themselves, said Mr. Flynn. Besides, many of the employees have been working on base, or around the U.S. military, for decades so they know how a base is supposed to run and they understand American standards.

While VBR has held Incirlik’s contract since 1988, some of its employees have worked here since the 1970s.

“We are ready for any project the base might get,” said Mr. Flynn. “For example, when the cargo hub stood up, we were already working closely with contracting to ensure we had things ready as well. We had to ensure we were prepared to support the mission and assure it’s success.”

In addition to supporting 39th SVS and 39th CES duties, VBR ensures 39th Logistics Readiness Squadron functions benefit from its employee expertise as well. VBR employees also conduct outbound household goods customs inspections, and operate and maintain the base vehicle fleet.