Southwest Asia -- (Editor’s note: Due to safety and security reasons,
last names and unit designators were removed.)
Imagine unloading 60 thousand pounds of cargo by
hand. Aircraft missions, personnel movements, and supply distributions would
come to a screeching halt. The time and resources necessary to accomplish such
a task would be detrimental to the mission.
To keep the mission moving, a handful of dedicated
Airmen who specialize in maintaining material handling equipment from the
Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron are ready to roll up their sleeves
and get their hands dirty working on some of the largest equipment in the Air
Force’s arsenal.
“We take care of all the maintenance for the Air
Transportation Operations Center, which includes anything used to load and
unload equipment and people around the area of responsibility,” said Staff Sgt.
Jason, noncommissioned officer in charge of MHE. “We do it all, from repairs,
adjustments, and overhauls, including replacing major assemblies and sub-
assemblies like power and drive trains.”
Material handling equipment comes in all shapes and
sizes, which include: 60K and 25K aircraft cargo loaders, adverse terrain
forklifts and standard forklifts, and personnel moving vehicles like buses.
It’s this equipment that enables a continuous flow
of cargo and personnel for missions associated with Operation INHERENT RESOLVE.
It’s a prime example of how the Air Force is able to achieve one of its
distinct capabilities, rapid global mobility.
“The ops tempo affects our mission; it makes it
difficult to pull a vehicle out of rotation to work on it,” said Senior Airman
Jacob. “These vehicles are critical; if they aren’t running it could delay
missions which affect other people in the Area of Responsibility.”
Keeping those assets readily available is
challenging, especially as operations continue against ISIL.
“We do as much preventative maintenance as possible
to keep the vehicles in good operating order,” said Staff Sgt. Jason. “These
vehicles are used every day, so it’s important to keep them running. We try to
limit it to one vehicle down at a time, so they [ATOC] are able to continue
their mission.”
In order to keep these giant assets operational they
work as a team to expedite the process.
“We try to take care of the most crucial thing first
and then prioritize the rest,” said Staff Sgt. Jason. “Some projects take three
people to work on, other times we’re able to split the workload and tackle
several jobs. The vehicles we’re working with are big and heavy, so we usually
need more than one person on one job.”
The hydraulic fluid, oil, and sweat aren’t just
scars on their uniforms from the grueling work these Airmen do every day; it’s badge
of honor and their commitment to something bigger than themselves.
“All the ammo, bombs, and other assets moving around
theater, we’re helping all that happen,” said Senior Airman Jacob. “Working
outside in the heat makes it 10 times harder, but being out here you can see
the impact; what we are doing is directly affecting OIR. It gives me a sense of
pride.”