Aerial Port Airmen move personnel, cargo downrange

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Lindsey Maurice
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The most important assets of any military operation are its people and equipment. Without them, success is unattainable.

Enter the 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron's Aerial Port - a team whose mission is to move personnel and cargo in and out of the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

The team, which works around the clock, processes an average of 60,000 passengers and five and a half tons of cargo in and out of the AOR a month.

"We have a great group of Airmen who make up our aerial port team," said Master Sgt. Matthew Gippe, 386th ELRS Air Terminal Operations Center duty officer deployed from Langley Air Force Base, Va. "They work long hours, battling the 120 degree heat and any other challenges that come their way to get our assets where they need to be. Seeing these young men and women and all they bring to the table is impressive."

Here at "The Rock", an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, the Aerial Port mission encompasses two main areas - cargo and passengers.

With five to six tons of cargo to process each month, encompassing everything from helicopters and tactical vehicles to medical supplies and ammunition, Aerial Port cargo personnel face long, often labor intensive, days on the flightline.

Aerial port Airmen along with the help of C-130 and C-17 loadmasters must unload and load all cargo on the jets, inventory the equipment, inspect it, palletize it and prepare it for its next movement via aircraft or convoy.

"Our job requires great attention to detail from making sure the pallets are properly netted down to making sure the vehicles are prepared correctly for airlift," said Staff Sgt. Whitney Trisch, 386th ELRS day shift cargo NCO in charge. "All of our processes have set procedures and there are a lot of moving parts. The OPSTEMPO is high here too, so there's always a lot to do."

Sergeant Trisch, who is deployed from Eglin AFB, Fla., said she really feels like she's making a difference in the war effort through her work in the aerial port here.

"We send a lot of cargo downrange such as the Marine Corps vehicles and equipment we shipped out recently for a major battle they were in," said the Atlanta, Ga., native. "It's good to know that I made a difference in moving that cargo."

Another aerial port Airman who knows he's making a difference is 1st Lt. Eric Layo, 386th ELRS Passenger Services officer in charge.

Lieutenant Layo and his team, in coordination with their Army and DynCorp (a defense contractor) counterparts, process thousands of military members in and out of the AOR each day.

"The Army is in charge of all inter-theater flights whether its rest and recreation, redeployments or temporary duty back to the states or other theaters; while the intra-theater portion, consisting of troops going to other installations within the AOR, has been contracted out to DynCorp (as part of a logistics civil augmentation plan)," said the Portage, Penn., native. "Our duty as members of the Air Force is to help coordinate these processes with both entities and act as technical experts within the terminal."

The Lieutenant, deployed from Charleston AFB, S.C., said his team's main priority in passenger services is "ensuring maximum aircraft utilization and that troops get processed in a timely and accurate manner."

"This is my first time working in the passenger services side of the aerial port, so my main focus is just trying to get spun up on everything that's going on - there are a lot of moving pieces here," said the two-year Air Force veteran now a month into his deployment. "It's also different working in a joint environment with the Army, Air Force and contractors and trying to find the best way to work hand-in-hand with one another to accomplish the mission. Luckily, we have a great team and a good working relationship."

Like the cargo mission, the passenger services mission is a 24-hour, seven days a week function.

"Our guys are working non-stop to get these troops moved through," said Lieutenant Layo. "We don't want them sitting on the ground here any longer than they have to. They all have somewhere to be and it's our job to get them there."

As the ATOC duty officer, Sergeant Gippe, a Rochester, N.Y., native, works hand-in-hand with both the cargo and personnel aspects of the aerial port mission.

"It's my job to observe all the terminal operations on the flightline from start to finish and make sure that everything runs smooth on a mission standby position and also in the safety aspect," said Sergeant Gippe. "If we have any possible delays or anything comes up I also need to address those and make sure there's no stop in the flow of cargo movement."

The senior NCO, now on his tenth deployment as an aerial porter, said his last two months at "The Rock" have been busy, but good.

"This has been a challenge and an eye-opener," he said. "One minute everything is running smooth and the next minute you're running around to find a solution to an unexpected problem. It's been a great experience so far though and I couldn't ask for better people to work with. They work hard every day and are making a real impact on the mission."