ALI AL SALEM AIR BASE, Kuwait -- Airmen from the 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron recently demonstrated a textbook example of rapid global mobility during a mass movement of military personnel for an Emergency Deployment Rapid Exercise at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, August 10, 2022.
At a moment’s notice, 120 U.S. Army Task Force Griz Soldiers from the 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 163rd Cavalry Regiment, were processed, out the door and onto a C-17 Globemaster III flawlessly within a very short amount of time.
Rapid global mobility is a joint force enabler, allowing the United States to reach anywhere in the globe with great speed and little delay. It is the key to enabling agile combat employment (ACE), as well as many other strategies America has utilized over the years. From humanitarian relief to deploying in response to armed conflict, rapid global mobility is the vital piece of the puzzle to maximizing the full spectrum readiness of our forces.
“This process was very organized,” said Spc. Robert Ayers, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 163rd Cavalry Regiment, Task Force Griz human resources specialist. “If we need to, this is the situation that would happen. As a warfighter, being able to be processed as fast as possible is definitely an advantage to us.”
Through teamwork, training and innovation, the 386 ELRS are able to reduce wait times and get the warfighter where they need to go efficiently and effectively.
“It allows us to get boots on ground as quickly as possible,” said Staff Sgt. Franko Seper, 386th ELRS passenger services ground supervisor. “This capability is not just helping us, but people in other areas and in different parts of the world, in the blink of an eye.”
The 386th ELRS team ensures that there is no single point of failure and that every person on the team can adapt to any situation that arises. While passengers are checking into the terminal, the team is already x-raying bags, ratcheting down straps, and organizing luggage pallet after luggage pallet.
Airmen have always been well acquainted with adapting and overcoming, but with the recent formalization of the term multi-capable Airmen (MCA), the Air Force has recognized that this spirit of Airmen understanding multiple aspects of multiple jobs will be foundational to ACE success.
“The success of any mission depends on your team. We have multiple Airmen that are doing multiple things, sometimes at once,” said Seper, referring to his team’s employment of MCA. “Whether you are working on the grounds team or are a team chief, you are switching constantly. For a mission like this to happen, you have to be spun up on every aspect of the job.”
The root of their mission success in delivering rapid global mobility stems from their view that there is no wasted opportunity to be better and grow stronger from.
“Every mission improves our capabilities,” said Seper. “This shows that whether the missions are big, medium, or small, we’re able to operate at a high rate of speed with the same efficiency.”