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Commodities flight: Equipping and supplying Airmen

  • Published
  • By Staff Sergeant Miles Wilson
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar— When it comes to being deployed, there are certain items and services that make the experience much more comfortable and enhance the quality of life. Whether it be amenities such as wireless internet or silverware, or items needed for smooth operations such as generators or air conditioning units to help with the intense desert heat, not being able to have these items would drastically change both the capabilities and the experience of deployers.

 

At Al Udeid Air Base, a majority of these items and services are procured by the 379th Expeditionary Contracting Squadron Commodities Flight. The five Airmen in this flight process hundreds of requests a month, and are responsible for finding and buying them. The items that they are responsible for procuring can range from office phones that enable quick communications, to equipment used in psychological operations.

 

“Anything that cannot be provided through supply, the desert depot, or cannot be procured by unit GPC cardholders, we are the ones that make sure that things get purchased,” said Staff Sgt. Carl Brantingham, the NCO in charge of the 379th ECONS Commodities Flight. “We impact the capabilities of almost every organization on base.”

 

The commodities flight enables Airmen across the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing to complete their missions, and strives to make it as easy and comfortable as possible. Also, aside from mission capability, the commodities flight is responsible for the many various items that provide the comforts of home in a deployed environment, such as wireless internet.

 

“Our mission impact spans every level of operational capability,” said Brantingham, “from the direct impact on the mission, such as providing aircraft revetments and dry ink, to the support and sustainment aspect, such as air conditioning units.”

When it comes to their job, the Airmen in the commodities flight are experts in a range of areas, ranging from customer service to market research and multi-agency coordination. But among these, the commodities flight Airmen agree that one of the most important aspects of their job is relationship and time management.

 

“Between reviewing purchase requests, conducting market research, coordinating with finance and negotiating with vendors, we have to manage our time pretty tightly,” said Brantingham. “Relationship management is just as important. If our relationships with finance, resource advisors or our customers falter, then our workflow falters on both ends. If our relationships with local vendors aren’t constantly being cultivated, then we risk damaging not only their view of us, but also the United States of America.”

 

Although the job is stressful, the impact that this team has on the mission of the 379th AEW is immense. From morale to capability to foreign relations, these Airmen strive to improve every aspect tied to their work, and are compensated for their efforts in gratitude and seeing their impact all across the wing.

 

“Our favorite part of the job is when all of the research and coordination comes together into a successful delivery, and we receive the gratitude of the end user,” explained Brantingham.

 

Senior Airman Dalton Koutz, a contracting officer with the 379th ECONS Commodities Flight, also had something to say about the feeling of seeing the end result of his team’s work: “Every day feels like Christmas.”