Slamming mat

Our squadron does many tasks to support the Marine air group. One task is to build runways. This entails prepping the land and making sure it is level and compact. The last step is to lay the mats of tarmac down. Kyle would like this task because it involves locking rectangular pieces together as if one was building a massive sheet of Legos. The problem is that these Lego pieces weigh up to 155 lbs each. They call it 'slamming mat'.

Due to necessity and for motivation the staff NCOs and officers have been doing some night shifts laying matting. I recently went out to do my part (and bring my medical bag for the inevitable crushed toe or finger. It is a rather good workout throwing this matting around. Unfortunately, some of the pieces have been used prior and thus they do not always want to fit together easily. During the deployment out squadron will lay 100's of thousands of feet of this matting.





Heave ho, lets go













There are 6 foot and 12 foot sections that are locked together in a pattern.













My partner carrying a 6 foot section of mat














The exciting world of mat laying













Getting ready to 'slam mat'