Smooth travel – behind the scenes

Published Jan. 10, 2008
By Staff Sgt. Mike Andriacco
455 Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan -- For servicemembers and civilians seeking to travel throughout Afghanistan and to the United States, the bustling passenger terminal here is a familiar sight.

What those individuals don't usually see is the intense work behind going on behind the scenes to make their travel possible.

The Airmen of the Logistics Plans office here are a critical part of the process that helps travelers reach their destination as smoothly as possible. Their mission has a huge impact on travel throughout the region, said Tech. Sgt. Timothy Hughes, the office's non-commissioned officer-in-charge.

"In the deploy/redeploy function, we perform planning to determine the feasibility of moving personnel," he explained. Included in that initial planning is the determination of what type of aircraft is needed to make sure personnel and cargo reach the right destinations at the right time to be effective, Sergeant Hughes added.

The office maintains an extremely high operations tempo during deployment cycles and expects to process more than 2,000 personnel and 250 tons of cargo over the next couple of months, said Sergeant Hughes.

While the majority of their mission is dedicated to those movements, there are often circumstances that require special attention as well. In the event a member must take emergency leave, the team works quickly to get them to their leave location as quickly as possible.

"For emergency leave, we sign the member up for the next available flight out of here," said Airman 1st Class Catherine Hanson, a traffic management journeyman. "We send their commercial travel paperwork ahead of them so when they reach their point of embarkation, the rest of their travel is already set up for them."

No matter what happens with travel plans, individuals need to remember that sometimes the unpredictable can happen. However, there are some things you can do to make your travel easier.

Most travelers have an appointed unit transportation representative and are encouraged to contact them early so they understand the process for redeployment before they pack their bags, said Sergeant Hughes.

He also offered several other tips to improve the travel experience.

"Work your travel through your UTR so you know where you are moving and when; always have your paperwork on hand; and remember that when you get to your POE, don't try to change the travel arrangements that have already been made for you."

"Most importantly, please be patient and flexible," he added. "Airlift is not guaranteed and is subject to change, especially in the winter."

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