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Teamwork keeps Sather PAX terminal moving through RDoF

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Sanjay Allen
  • Air Component Coordination Element-Iraq Public Affairs
SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq --  Editor's note: This is part four of a five part series highlighting the Air Force's involvement during the Responsible Drawdown of Forces in Iraq.

As U.S. Forces prepare to transition from combat operations to an advise and assist role, members of the 447th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron continue to support the drawdown through continuing 24-hour operations as they process an average of 19,000 to 20,000 passengers and 1,000 to 1,200 tons of cargo per month through Iraq's main aerial hub.

Redeploying thousands of troops, transiting hundreds more while supporting additional airlift and cargo movement requirements can often prove challenging for personnel in deployed locations, however, despite supporting a recent short-noticed airlift requirement to move more than 800 Ugandan guards to bases in Iraq for base security, aerial porters from the 447th ELRS kept U.S. Forces on track toward reducing its footprint to approximately 50,000 by the end of August.

Staff Sgt. Austin Diaz, an air transporter at the Baghdad Passenger Terminal, explained how the three sections here all work together to make sure people and cargo get to their destinations on time.

He said the passenger counter personnel, track and move passengers; the baggage section personnel collect baggage and palletize it; and the gate personnel move the passengers smoothly from the gate to the aircraft and vice versa which makes their operations run smoothly.

"With multiple aircraft coming in, it's a little bit difficult but we manage our people so that we can handle all the mission workload all at once," Sergeant Diaz said, who is a reservist deployed from Dover Air Force Base, Del. "It gets a little bit difficult sometimes but in the end we get everybody out on time."

Being able to make sure everything gets out on time, without a hitch, requires a lot of people in the three sections to work together as a team.

"It's all about teamwork," said Senior Master Sgt. Ara Shishmanian, aerial port dayshift superintendent, also a reservist deployed from Dover. "It's all about being able to anticipate, respond to the mission and make sure that we're on target and we're on the ball throughout our shift time."

Although it's a difficult job and sometimes very challenging, somebody's got to do it. And the aerial porters at Sather AB have been stepping up to the challenge.