European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 21, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday May 21, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 11 s4s Gary Miller after one Days work a Quarter of the runway at Moran a Spain has been ripped up by the air forces 7002nd civil engr so which is based at Ramstein a Germany. Trips to sunny Spain tougher since runway became rubble by j. King Cruger Mediterranean Bureau mor6n a Spain a american military travellers unable to obtain lodging on the base nearest Seville a expo �?T92 can blame their plight on Saddam Hussein. Moron a a Spanish base with an american sector played a major role in the War with Iraq. For months hundreds of heavy transport aircraft flew in and out of the base 35 Miles Southeast of Seville. Additionally air Force b-52 Strat fortresses a flew 294 bombing missions to the persian Gulf from Moron. All that activity pounded the tar out of the runway which at 10,800 feet is one of the longest in Europe. A volumes of takeoffs and landings especially by Kc-10 tankers and b-52s, did the damage a said air Force it. Col. Dan Ortiz commander of Moran a a 7120th air base flight a unit of the 16th air Force. Moron normally has room for 50 to 85 people in its Frontera hotel the bases temporary lodging facility. However much of it is being taken up this summer by repair specialists a As Many As 60 at a time a on temporary duty to fix the runway. The bases runway closed april 21 and wont reopen until september Ortiz said. A we expect to have 10 rooms per night for visitors. We Are trying to support As Many As we can. Accommodation will be available on a first come first served basis a he said. Ortiz suggests that anyone desiring billeting at Moron Call Auto on 722-8098 or Seville commercial 584-8098 before arriving. Moron also has a Small number of single rooms available in dormitories. A people on leave should Call and we can advise them on what we have available or recommend reasonably priced hotels in the area a Ortiz said. Engineers determined several years ago that morons a i. A l it proc re oomph runway needed substantial repair but it was deemed usable for the time being said Dave Evans the bases civil Engineer a landings during the Gulf War really accelerated the project. Rebuilding work has to be done if we Ever want to use this runway again a said Evans 34, a resident of Pittsburgh. Although plans for the project were drawn up by the bases civil engineering staff the actual work is being done by both american military personnel and Spanish contractors. The Spanish contractors will repair Concrete sections basically two touchdown zones at either end of the runway. The majority of work on the Asphalt surface is being done by personnel from the air forces 7002nd civil engr so from Ramstein a Germany. Squadron personnel regularly deploy to . Bases in Europe to build roads and buildings install pipelines and repair runways. Currently Moron is the squadrons Only runway repair Job. The Squadron sent about 30 of its personnel a mix a Ture of air Force personnel and germans from its 7002nd civilian service unit. The group arrived by bus driving straight to Southern Spain in 25 hours. Their heavy equipment a papers bucket loaders and cutting saws a was flown from Ramstein to Tor Rejon a outside Madrid and to naval station Rota 80 Miles to the Southwest and then trucked to Moron. The squadrons people arrived during the last week of april and promptly started ripping up one Side of the 200-foot-wide runway. A wow look How far they have come. They just started yesterday a Ortiz exclaimed to two base visitors. The team from Ramstein had already ripped up a Quarter of the runways length. A this Asphalt is soft stuff and that a Why we Are moving so fast a said sgt. Rodney Grohler an equipment operator As he took a break from ripping up Asphalt with a Diamond tipped Power saw. A in some places the Asphalt is 4 inches deep and that slows us Down a bit a Saia it. Heinz Bartnick 57, assistant supervisor of the Moran runway project. A we will Start laying Asphalt during the first week of june and at the same time Start ripping up the other Side of the runway a said Bartnick who has worked for the civilian service unit for 36 years. Besides Grohler Only two other air Force people accompanied the civilian service unit. A this is great try temporary duty As Long As it does no to get too hot out Here a said one of the three senior airman David Nye 21, a heavy equipment Mechanic from Arkport . Nye appears to be in for a Long hot summer because temperatures in mor6n regularly top 100 degrees in june july and August. At the same time As the repairs a new air traffic control console is being installed in the air bases control Tower a to permit the base to operate for some years to come a Ortiz said. Sas Guy Miller it. Heinz Bartnick watches sgt. Rodney Grohler As he cuts the mor6n runway with a Diamond tipped saw. Sas Gary Millar previous repair efforts weren to enough to keep Moran a a runway in shape. The base was used heavily during the persian Gulf War last year