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Vehicle operators, maintainers keep rolling

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Heather Skinkle
  • 451st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  Mission critical supplies need to reach another unit, but it's across Kandahar Airfield.

Would walking be a viable option?

Since KAF is the size of a small city with units spread far apart, driving is the preferred method of transportation here.

Providing, operating, and maintaining vehicles for the wing to complete its mission can be challenging, but the 451st Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron members deliver results under pressure.

"We have one of the highest operation tempos in the area of responsibility," Senior Master Sgt. Steven Hadley, 451st ELRS superintendent, said. "We work in extreme conditions and are constantly under threat of attack, plus we manage one of the largest fleets in the AOR.

Those challenges would be daunting enough for most units, but a cohesive team keeps vehicle operations and vehicle maintenance operating smoothly.

"We have differences, but everyone works together," Jason Scott, a 451st ELRS site manger with the Air Force civilian augmentee program, said.

With a smaller work force military and civilians depend on each other to complete the mission and that's where the CAP comes in handy.

"Our civilians not only provide great continuity since they're here longer, but they're also are an extra pair of hands so we pair them up with our Airmen," Tech Sgt. Michael Stakus, NCO in charge of maintenance, said.

Scott, a retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant, has been providing maintenance oversight since July of last year, said it's good to see the unit's team work continue to build.

"It's not hard to work with the different services here, because you all have one goal: to keep the fleet going."

Senior Airman Andrew Netzel, a 451st ELRS vehicle operator, agrees. Netzel's new to the squadron but says even though the daily vehicle checks, tractor trailer and forklift runs, keep him busy he likes it better than his previous two Iraq deployments.

"It's better than running convoys, but that's mainly because of the great team of people we have here," he said.

The units' team work extends to helping out within the wing when called. In the last couple weeks the vehicle operations and vehicle maintenance helped cook food for a wing function, provided personnel for security details, and starting this week are helping move an entire unit to the other side of the flight line.

"We are fortunate to be working with such a great group of people," Hadley said. "Even with our heavy work load their volunteerism is impressive."

Tech Sgt. Michael Stakus, NCO in charge of maintenance, is on his eighth deployment, said finding time for extra duties in addition to their primary job is a challenge but they're up to the task.

"We can get pulled for tasks, different types of training so it's a constant balancing act with the workload and extra duties," Stakus said.

Stakus makes sure everyone is employed and vehicles are getting back to the customer safe and serviceable, he said.

The work load is hectic but even though vehicle operations and vehicle maintenance have separate responsibilities, Stakus says he remembers that each section relies on the other to complete the mission.

"No one section is more important than the other - if one was missing we wouldn't be able to provide safe and serviceable vehicles to the customer," Stakus said.