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Logistics Readiness Squadron is a true "Force Provider"

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kevin Tomko
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  It's a familiar sight here - American-made C-17s landing and maneuvering. Russian-built IL-76 cargo aircraft lined up on the flight line, taxiing for departure. While one aircraft is being unloaded, another is waiting next in line -- yet another is just about to land. 

One squadron, working around the clock in 12-hour shifts seven days a week, is the driving force behind cargo movement at Bagram. 

Last week, the 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron had the task of not only handling their normal work loads, but also expediting a new camp system the Army uses, called Force Provider. 

Force Provider is basically an old concept used in a new way -- that is, building camps using a type of modular construction -- and shipping everything in containers. 

"Basically they are canned camps," said Senior Master Sgt. James Shay, the aerial port superintendent. "They have different modules. Everything is in them. They have dining facilities, laundry, latrines and billeting." 

The camps are shipped in eight-foot containers which are designed to be handled easily. They can be trucked or air-dropped to remote locations. 

"The main purpose of the camps is transitional housing where you can put them up fast and take them down fast," said Franklin Hinton, a member of the technical assistance team for Force Provider. "The camps that were just unloaded here take about two weeks to build. We're building seven of these camps in Iraq right now." 

To handle the added task of moving these Force Provider containers, the squadron used certain methods to save time and manpower. 

One way to save time was to line up two K-loaders back to back when unloading the IL-76. 

"We park them back to back behind the IL-76 because this cargo plane holds nine containers. Six containers go on the first K-loader and three go on the second," said Chief Master Sgt. Edward Ratka, the superintendent of the 455th ELRS. "Instead of driving each K-loader up to the plane separately, we park them back to back, line them up and unload it all at once." 

Chief Ratka said the aerial port easily broke Bagram's record for handling cargo in a single week -- surpassing the previous record mid-way through the week. 

"I'm really proud of our people for what they have done on this rotation" said Chief Ratka. "We unloaded 360 of these containers last week, and that's in addition to our normal work load." 

Speed and efficiency are the keys to helping the Army build camps in remote locations and the 455th ELRS has shown that they are up to the task. When the Army calls for these portable camps to be deployed, they can have confidence that the mission will be accomplished in a timely manner.