Air Force's newest mobile air shelter set up for Expeditionary Center training

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Public Affairs
FORT DIX, N.J. --  The newest model of deployable, mobile command posts is on the lot leaving the older model looking like a relic of deployments past.

Sitting behind the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center's main building here, the Hard-sided Expandable Lightweight Air Mobile Shelter, or HELAMS, is set up and ready for business.

Eventually replacing the Mobile Air Reporting Communications, or MARC, shelter, the HELAMS is at the center for training Airmen in the Mobility Operations School's Mobile Command, Control and Communications (C3) Systems Course.

"We will train students on both the MARC and HELAMS under one course until the MARCs are phased out," said Tech. Sgt. Don Colbert, Mobile C3 Systems Course director. "The HELAMS is used to make students familiar with set up and operations specific to the new shelter. The old advanced course was three weeks long. Now, the new Mobile C3 Systems Course will be four weeks long to cover all the new material."

Staff Sgt. Joshua Sager, Mobile C3 Systems Course instructor, said the HELAMS is highly mobile and quick to set up. It's a rugged container that provides a reliable, environmentally controlled area to work and has a design that provides reliable, weather-resistant storage and an air transport capability for installed equipment, supplies and auxiliary equipment that is shipped in the shelter and then removed for use during setup and operation.

"By replacing the MARC, which was put into service in the mid 1980s, the HELAMS provides for more work space and a new high frequency radio system that requires less power to operate and much quieter than previous system," Sergeant Sager said. "It also offers a significant weight reduction -- it's 2,500 pounds lighter than the MARC. Additionally, the HELAMS has a smaller load footprint when transported -- a full pallet position smaller, and has an easier to deploy wheel set for ground transportation."

As the MARC did, the HELAMS provides a portable command post for contingency response forces.

"The CRG commander is allocated more workspace than the MARC to monitor operations," Sergeant Colbert said. "The HELAMS also provides a secure setting for classified briefs, communications security and operations security. It is climate controlled to increase reliability of communications systems."

Sergeant Colbert said he's happy to have the latest technology available for students and it should pay big dividends for the Air Force.

"Our HELAMS unit will provide the latest hands-on training required to help Airmen be ready to deploy with the shelter," Sergeant Colbert said. "The new shelter is a bonus for us to have for training and also in the long run, it will provide mobility forces the best equipment available to complete their duties in a bare-base environment."

Sergeant Colbert noted the HELAMS is manufactured by AAR Mobility Systems of Cadillac, Mich., and first became available to the military in 2003. The design is based on the soft-walled Expandable Light Air Mobile Shelter that entered production in 1999.
To learn more about U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center, Mobility Operations School and courses offered, visit www.expeditionarycenter.af.mil or the see the USAF EC's page on Air Force Portal.