2023 Tier 2 Vanguard Award Winner

In the summer of 2021, Louis Berger Services was heavily involved in the U.S. military withdrawal of Afghanistan, where it had been providing Air Terminal and Ground Handling Services (ATGHS) in support of the LOGCAP program since April 2021. LBS’ Aerial Port Operations served as a lifeline toward the success of evacuating and closing Bagram Airfield—the primary arrival and departure location for military passengers and cargo in Afghanistan—and supported the largest U.S. military non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) out of the Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport.

LBS was the last contractor operating at Bagram Airfield as it worked to remove U.S.-owned assets that had been present in Afghanistan for decades and provided Aerial Port Operations Services necessary to keep evacuation activities moving around the clock. It was also the last civilian contractor at the New Kabul Compound (NKC), the main hub for the Tactical Operation Center (TOC), where LBS provided base power plant operations until Coalition Forces handed the NKC to the Afghan National Army.

LBS’ Afghanistan mission became a refugee effort in July 2021 when the NEO began at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Of the total 124,000 American citizens, civilian allies, and refugees who were removed in the NEO, LBS helped transport more than 15,000 by providing Aerial Port Operations. LBS personnel successfully orchestrated an unprecedented movement of evacuees on commercial and military aircraft to the Kuwait International Airport and NAVSTA Rota, Spain, where LBS employees stood ready to support and care for incoming refugees. Not only did LBS help develop temporary waiting accommodations in Kuwait and a temporary city in Rota where people could sleep and be processed, many employees paid out of their own pocket for water, food, and other life-supporting supplies and services for arriving passengers. LBS’s operation at Cargo City in Kuwait resulted in 113 missions with 10,373 evacuees from Afghanistan and 36.1 tons of humanitarian cargo, while LBS staff at NAVSTA Rota managed processing for all passengers destined to the Continental United States without a single delay or a missing refugee.

About Louis Berger Services

Louis Berger Services (LBS) specializes in operation and maintenance services at large, mission-essential military installations, and transportation facilities worldwide. As a trusted partner to federal government agencies, we provide expertise in aerial port operations, contingency logistics and ground support services, turnkey power and fueling solutions, as well as heavy vehicle maintenance for defense and security customers. We also provide industry-leading transportation asset maintenance services to state and local customers across the United States. It’s our mission and an honor to help clients solve their most complex challenges.