BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --
On a daily basis, F-16 Fighting Falcons take off from Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan delivering decisive airpower around the area of responsibility.
Helping to ensure their trucks and trailers safely make multiple trips transporting munitions from the storage area to the flight line is Senior Airman Alyssa Montelongo, 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron ammunition line delivery crew chief.
“Here at BAF, my job is to ensure the responsibility for the daily accounting and maintenance of the unit’s equipment,” said Montelongo. “We come in, take inventory, wait for control to give us a call, and then we go out to the flight line to see if anything needs to get downloaded or uploaded.”
Montelongo said that if there isn’t anything that needs to be uploaded or downloaded, there is always trailer maintenance.
“If trailers are coming due for maintenance, we will start working on those,” said Montelongo. “We check out a truck, light cables, [technical orders], and make sure those are all good to go. We have TOs for everything to go over -- like the truck's tires, nuts and bolts --to make sure those [items] are all good because without the trailers we can’t transport the bombs, missiles, flares and rockets.”
Chief Master Sgt. Roby Johnson, 455th EMXS Munitions flight chief, spoke highly of Montelongo and stated that she was vital to mission success for the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing’s mission to defend, support and deliver airpower.
“As a member of the line delivery section, Montelongo’s job is important because she is the vital piece that is required to take the built bombs, missiles, 20MM, and countermeasures from the ammunition supply point to the aircraft,” said Johnson. “Without the line delivery section, no ammo would be delivered to the aircraft.”
Currently deployed from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., Montelongo joined the Air Force more than three years ago and is serving on her first deployment.
“I was really excited about this deployment, I really wanted to get deployed and with this being my first one, I felt like this was the right group of people to deploy with,” said Montelongo. “I joined to do something different. I was tired of working retail and I wanted to go back to school and travel.”
Johnson stated the mission of the Munitions Flight is to provide second-to-none expeditionary munitions support for the aircraft and personnel assigned to BAF and the Afghanistan theater. Airmen like Montelongo make that happen every day.
“The mission here at the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing is to defend, support and deliver,” said Montelongo. “Without ammo, there will be no delivery. Our job is line delivery. Without us, nothing will get delivered to the jets. We would miss our goes; pilots wouldn’t have any weapons.”