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8th EAMS moves passengers, freight throughout AOR

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Clark Staehle
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Almost everyone deployed here has been touched by the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron. 

The squadron runs the aerial port here, which is comprised of several flights: passenger services, air freight, load planning, fleet services and the Air Terminal Operations Center. 

The passenger services flight is responsible for moving all passengers and their baggage in and out of the base, which includes servicemembers passing through to points beyond. The flight processes troops from each service, and includes military working dogs as well. 

The passenger services flight recently, set a new record for passengers moved in and out of the area or responsibility. 

During June, Airmen with the squadron processed more than 36,000 passengers - a record, and a 16,000-passenger increase from the previous month. Airmen also processed 150,000 pieces of baggage, which are often at least 75 pounds a piece. So far, Airmen have processed 190,000 passengers for fiscal year 2007. 

Fleet services is another flight that belongs the 8th EAMS, cleans and readies aircraft for its next flight. Airmen with the flight process an average of 1,700 planes a month. 

Nearly everything that passes through the base on its way through the area of responsibility is unloaded, handled, stored and loaded by the squadron's air freight flight. There, Airmen move almost anything through its yard. 

So far this fiscal year the Passenger Services section has moved nearly 190,000 passengers - including military working dogs and pets,. 

In an average month, the flight moves about 7,500 tons of cargo, much of it destined for Army and Navy forward deployed locations. The flight set a record, moving 720,000 pounds of cargo on and off planes in just 12 hours. 

One of the ways the flight keeps track of its cargo is through the use of specialized equipment like radio frequency infrared detector tags. These tags let servicemembers track freight anywhere in the world - and the 8th EAMS one of the highest tag rates in the AOR. 

The squadron's load planning section helps plan which pieces of cargo will be shipped together. 

According to the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron., their job is to balance the priority of the cargo with the availability of aircraft space we are allowed for each destination.The ultimate goal is to use all the available space for cargo or passengers. 
Someone downrange is counting on the squadron to get them what they need. 

While each of the squadron's sections has a specific mission, the ATOC serves as the eyes and ears of the aerial port. The air terminal operations center oversees all the squadron's operations. 

The ATOC serves as the brain of the 8th EAMS. From here, the squadron receives and coordinates requests to move freight and passengers. 

The Airmen who belong to 8th EAMS ensure each passenger and pallet of cargo moving in and out of the AOR gets where it needs to be on time.