A new crop of service members have arrived for their deployment July 5, 2012 to Southwest Asia and the first people they will meet are members of the 379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron Personnel Support Contingency Operations team. PERSCO accounts for 100 percent of people that come through here, regardless of their length of stay and ensures a smooth transition through immigrations and customs. (U.S Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Sheila deVera)
Master Sgt. Arthur Powell, 379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron PERSCO reception control center member, directs the flow of traffic of new arrivals to the base. The service members arrived in the early hours of July 5, 2012 and the PERSCO team is the first ones to greet them. PERSCO is broken into three divisions; customer service, deliberate crisis action planning execution segments and the reception control center. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Bryan Swink)
Technical Sgt. Adrian Salas, 379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron PERSCO reception control center member, informs the arriving service members of the paper work they will need to process through immigrations and customs in Southwest Asia July 5, 2012. The RCC team ensures all passengers are taken care of and remain as comfortable as possible during the time following their long flight. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Bryan Swink)
Senior Airman Chenell Simmons, 379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron PERSCO reception control center member, passes out blank accountability sheets to service members who just landed in Southwest Asia on July 5, 2012. Accountability sheets are one of the first things service members must accomplish on arrival to ensure they are accounted for and registered into DCAPES. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Bryan Swink)
Senior Airman Chenell Simmons, 379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron PERSCO reception control center member, scans identification cards and stamps orders for any new arrival to Southwest Asia. PERSCO accounts for 100 percent of people that come through here, regardless of their length of stay and ensures a smooth transition through immigrations and customs. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Bryan Swink)
Technical Sgt. Adrian Salas, 379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron PERSCO reception control center member, gives detailed instructions of procedures new arrivals must adhere to when processing through customs July 5, 2012 in Southwest Asia. PERSCO accounts for 100 percent of people that come through here, regardless of their length of stay and ensures a smooth transition through immigrations and customs. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Bryan Swink)
by Senior Airman Bryan Swink
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
7/6/2012 - SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Editor's Note: This is part one of a three part series on the 379 EFSS/PERSCO team
You have traveled for more than 24 hours; you're tired, hot, and simply want to check into your room and get some sleep. However, before you can sleep, you will meet the busiest Personnel Support for Contingency Operations team in Southwest Asia.
Your tour has officially started. While you wait in line to process into the base, the 379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron PERSCO team eagerly awaits to check you in.
The 379th PERSCO team is the largest in the Air Force, consisting of 20 members and every one of them has a workload that keeps them engaged and consistently on their toes.
"Anytime you have a group of 20 people, the main challenge is getting the team to gel together and build a rapport," said Senior Master Sgt. Curtis Green, 379th EFSS PERSCO team chief, stationed at Kirtland AFB, N.M. "The group has really come together and gelled quickly. They have done whatever needs to be done with no questions asked and continually help others so the whole process runs smoothly."
The team's main focus is personnel accountability. PERSCO accounts for 100 percent of people that come through here, regardless of their length of stay. The team is broken into three elements; customer service, Deliberate and Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segments, and the Reception Control Center.
The RCC team deals with all incoming passengers. When Operation IRAQI FREEDOM was in full force, the RCC team here processed more than 50-thousand passengers per rotation year. That number has since dropped to 30 thousand since the drawdown.
One of RCC's main functions is to help the new arrivals through the immigration process, filling out an accountability sheet and then ensuring their luggage clears customs. The RCC team must work hand-in-hand with host-nation immigrations personnel, so maintaining a positive and productive relationship must be important.
"The relationship has been nothing short of great," said Staff Sgt. Derek Cary, EFSS RCC noncommissioned officer in charge, stationed at Pope Army Airfield. "Each side has a great deal of respect for the other, so we are able to get a lot of work accomplished."
Many times, with larger rotators, the process can take many hours. The RCC team ensures the passengers are as comfortable as possible after their long flight.
"We know they are uncomfortable," said Staff Sgt. Roberto Villalobos, EFSS RCC technician stationed at Travis Air Force Base, Calif. "We just continuously reassure them we are working our hardest to get them through this process as quickly as possible."
The night shift usually deals with larger groups of passengers as most rotation flights arrive at night. This process can be rewarding for the RCC teams because they are the first and last faces people see during their deployment.
"Just to hear the passengers say 'thank you' after a long and tedious flight makes all the long hours baking under the sun worth it," said Villalobos.
Comments
8/21/2012 9:14:49 AM ET I just wanted to say that I worked with all three of those individuals while I was deployed there. They were all great people to work with and I'm glad I got the opportunity to learn and grow from them. Maybe someday we'll be deployed together again. ThanksAlex
