Building Air Bases in the Negev

by Frank N. Schubert

Building Air Bases in the Negev is a remarkable story of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' role supporting national diplomatic initiatives overseas while managing a major construction project in Israel. Frank N. Schubert has written a superbly organized account, tracing from the spring of 1979 to the summer of 1982 the development and completion of two ultramodern air bases at a cost that only exceeded original estimates by less than 3 percent. As Schubert suggests, the air base program helped bring peace between two long-term antagonists--Israel and Egypt. Schubert's work serves as an important case study for analyzing not only engineering project management and construction practices but also demanding sociopolitical, cultural, and business conditions in sovereign foreign lands.