ATOC handles tons of cargo but can also help a single Airman Published July 25, 2006 By Master Sgt. Orville F. Desjarlais Jr. 455 AEW public affairs BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Tech. Sgt. William Long likes a challenge, but a couple weeks ago, one challenge seemed insurmountable. Air Force officials notified an Airman deployed to a remote forward operating base that his wife was gravely ill. The Air Force placed him on emergency leave then tried to figure a way to get him from the Afghan frontier to the United States. As a controller in the Air Terminal Operations Center here, Sergeant Long decided to tackle the problem. Sergeant Long, deployed from Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., found an Army helicopter that would transport the Airman from the forward operating base to Kabul. Then, he put the Airman on a convoy from Kabul to here - where Sergeant Long ran into another problem. A Russian cargo plane had caught fire at the end of the runway, closing the runway for a day. Because C-130 Hercules specialize in short take-offs and landings, Sergeant Long found a C-130 aircrew willing to fly the desperate Airman to Kuwait, where he caught a rotator flight to Atlanta, Ga., where he met his family. "There were no flights leaving here and (Sergeant) Long found a way to get this guy home," said 1st Lt. John Hoffmann, the aerial port's operations officer. "These guys are doing some amazing things — not just the minimum. They're giving it their all." In the ATOC nerve center, Sergeant Long, another controller and a duty officer track everything from pallets to people. Information assaults them from many different sources. If it rings, they answer it. If it pops up on the computer screen through one of the three software programs, they study it. If it squawks over the radio, they listen. If someone in the command post yells information through their window, they yell a reply. If a person walks in with a question, that person walks out with an answer. "It helps if we're able to multi-task," Sergeant Long said. Master Sgt. Deidre McClain, a duty officer deployed here from Robins Air Force Base, Ga., said, "Our main duty is to make sure everything comes in on time and leaves on time." Sergeant McClain is used to the maddening infusion of information. She remembers one time when five cargo aircraft landed at the same time. Based on the personnel and equipment at Bagram, the maximum number of aircraft they can unload at one time is three. Then, usually on Sundays, they'll feel lucky to get five aircraft in five hours. However, because Bagram Airfield is the hub for freight and passenger movement for Operation Enduring Freedom throughout Afghanistan, there are very few relaxing Sundays. In June, the 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron moved 5,812 tons of cargo, 4.5 tons of mail and 12,506 passengers. If the Air Force used only C-17 Globemaster IIIs and loaded them to their maximum payload of 85 short tons or 102 passengers per aircraft, the C-17s would be lined up end to end for 6.5 miles to equal the amount of cargo and people pushed through here in June. It takes 16 Airmen working round the clock in 12-hour shifts to move that much equipment and personnel. One aircraft may be loaded with toilet tissue, while the one next to it could have Congressmen or Senators on it. One will need a K-loader, while the other a stair truck. The ATOC's biggest fear is to cause delays. So far, they've been successfully dodging delays. As of July 6, they've gone 33 days without an aerial port-induced delay. There are delays in take-offs, but they are caused for other reasons, like mechanical problems, air-crew troubles, operations, planning or weather. The ATOC team has reduced aerial-port delays by 70 percent, according to Master Sgt. John Oyster, NCO in charge of ATC. The team has also saved the Air Force thousands of dollars by recovering equipment like chains, nets and pallets. In salvaging 117 pallets, Sergeant Oyster and his team saved the Air Force $269,000. They found areas on base where pallets were being used as floors for latrines and showers, as a pad for a water tank and flooring for a vehicle maintenance tent. Also, by finding room where they could on cargo aircraft, they had hundreds of wall lockers flown to Kandahar, saving the Air Force more than $11,000 in trucking costs. But, it's not the money they save the Air Force that makes them happy. For Sergeant Long, it's the satisfaction he gains from helping other Airmen. Figuring a way to reunite an Airman with his ill wife is something Sergeant Long will remember proudly for the rest of his life. "In fact, it made everyone in the unit feel good." he said.