News

Aerial port Reservists put port systems in place in Senegal

  • Published
  • By Sandra Pishner
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
McChord Field, Wash. --  The wing's Citizen Airmen from the 36th and 86th Aerial Port Squadrons, along with Airmen from the active-duty's 62nd Aerial Port Squadron here, are supporting the Air Force operations in Senegal are part of a massive "whole-of-government" approach to Operation United Assistance. 

Operation United Assistance is directed by the U.S. Agency for International Development and incorporating a broad array of federal agencies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Department of Defense.

About 15 air transportation specialists from the 446th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington have been in Dakar, Senegal in West Africa since Nov. 8, to support ground personnel for the campaign against Ebola, Operation Unified Assistance

"Our primary mission here is to move humanitarian cargo into countries affected by the Ebola virus disease," said Senior Master Sgt. Stokoe, 86th APS.  "Not only has this been a collaboration between three aerial port squadrons (86th APS, 36th APS, and 62nd APS), but it has also been a joint service effort.  We have been working directly with the Army's 21st Theater Sustainment Command and the 101st Sustainment Brigade.  This collaboration has been integral in accomplishing our mission."

The U.S. military has committed approximately 3,900 troops to support the mission. They staff medical laboratories, provide training to local health-care workers, and have built up to 17, 100-bed Ebola Treatment Units and a 25-bed hospital. More than 1,600 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, DOD civilian employees and contractors deployed to Senegal and Liberia in support of Operation United Assistance.

"I would say our biggest customer right now is the Defense Logistics Agency.  We are primarily moving cargo such as food and personal protective equipment for them into the EVD affected areas," said Stokoe.

The Reserve Airmen have integrated with the 787th AES, made up with primarily the 39th Airlift Squadron from Dyess, Texas and the 86th APS, 36th APS, and 62nd APS from JBLM.  There is a smattering of other folks from different bases ranging from Grand Forks, North Dakota to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.

"This is the first time we have integrated with a flying squadron, which can create its own set of challenges," said Stokoe. "However it opens the lines of communication to what is usually one of our biggest customers, and we are able to talk through potential issues and resolve most, if not all, prior to getting out to the aircraft.  This reduces ground time and all but eliminates delays from our station."

While bringing plenty of experience to the table, these Citizen Airmen are still finding opportunities to learn more and expand their skills.

"Fortunately our people are pretty experienced given our deployment schedule over the last decade," said Stokoe.  "However, there are certain aspects of working this mission that are unique and are exposing our people to situations we would not normally see. 

"I think the biggest would be the ability to setup our In-transit Visibility Systems.  Normally we deploy to already established aerial ports with these systems in place," explains Stokoe.  "Here we have had to start from the ground up, setting up satellite systems to run the Global Air Transportation Execution System and RFID Interrogators so we can effectively track cargo and passengers through our area of responsibility.  This is a huge feather in our cap as we are better able to deploy to remote locations and sustain cargo operations on our own."

According to Stokoe, the most difficult part of the missions is the down time and accommodations.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of resources when it comes to MWR stuff right now," he said. "Tent life proves to be a bit difficult when you are running 24 hour operations as it is 24 hour quiet hours and you pretty much have to vacate your tent so the other shift can get their rest.  We have made do with the facilities we have in our work center though.  We have a projector and screen for movies and video games when there is downtime.  We also have plenty of board games and card games as well.  We also get to make trips to downtown Dakar when mission permits.  Those are mostly supply runs; however we get to indulge in some local cuisine and do a bit of site seeing as well. 

The teams of aerial port specialists are expected to return to McChord Field in the spring.