Morón Air Base – At approximately 1722Z on October 22, the 496th Air Base Squadron (ABS) Commander directed all 496 ABS members, base guests, and U.S. residents to shelter in place. Storm Bernard, an atypical and unexpected storm, brought strong winds and heavy rains, battering southern Spain and causing thousands of emergency incidents, catastrophic damage and two deaths in the Andalusia region.

The high winds, which reached up to 134 knots, caused significant damage on Morón Air Base. The airfield was closed, communications were hampered due to the abrupt disruption of local cellular services and the base itself lost power with key infrastructure turning to generator power. Several power lines were also knocked down and transformers got damaged, sending sparks into what had quickly become a howling night sky.

On their counterpart’s side, a Spanish Air and Space Force (SpAF) fuel tank began to leak near the Spanish housing area, forcing them to evacuate all houses. In the midst of this crisis, the 496 ABS responded promptly to support their partners by allowing them to use the installation’s Fitness Center as a temporary shelter. Along with the damage in the housing area, there was also some damage to the SpAF electrical substation.

While gaining command and control, the 496th Air Base Squadron Commander spotted SSgt Nicholas Biekert, Client Systems Supervisor, leaving his house and entering his car. With high winds and debris pelting the duo, SSgt Biekert disclosed, “Sir, the generator powering our ELMR (Enterprise Land Mobile Radio) system will fail if we don’t add more diesel,” implying that all non-line of sight communications would be cut off. That started a more than 4-hour maximum effort push by mission command-enabled and selflessly motivated personnel rallying at multiple locations around base – ensuring communication integrity, securing mission-critical aircraft on the ramp, and assisting members and residents in need.

Later that night, the commander directed all non-mission essential personnel to delay reporting until later the next morning to allow them to commute after sunrise and to provide them with ample time to travel with caution. As daylight dawned, it became apparent that those traveling in the darkness were not so lucky, as members bypassed accidents, damaged structures, and trees strewn across the roadways.

On Monday morning, traces of the storm could be seen all around the base. Several main base fences were demolished, and hundreds of feet of perimeter fence was destroyed and unsecure from felled trees. Approximately 40 buildings were damaged, most structures that had cloth overhangs or sunshades missed those items, the rotating beacon on the control tower was out, and over 200 trees were downed, causing damage to one home in the military family housing. At least eight other homes faced some minor damages.

During this whole day, the squadron’s chaplain, Capt Sergio Ramos, visited every work center and personally assessed the troops morale and wellbeing, finding they were “in good spirits and ready to fight.”

With great credit to the 496 ABS Civil Engineer (CE) team and the squadron’s contracted partners, base recovery began immediately. Even though the storm destroyed a transformer, the electricians had the power back on within three and a half hours. The heavy repair and structures sections addressed the perimeter fence immediately.

By 1200Z on 23 October, Morón Air Base was open and fully mission capable and by 1300Z, the base operating support and airfield operations had resumed, and the unit was ready to support the departure of a full Coronet package and the arrival of mission aircraft.

“I’ve never seen weather like that before”, affirmed Capt Kristopher Jarrett, 496 ABS CE Flight Commander, “the Installation Emergency Manager is creating a checklist to add to our emergency plans since this is the first significant wind event in the base’s history. We learned a lot of lessons from the storm and will apply those in the future”.

In the face of a truly unprecedented weather event, the 496 ABS team banded together and did not waver to fulfill their duties. After all, they project airpower!