Photo By Staff Sgt. Jason Cochran | U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Meknel Stepps, 731st Air Mobility Squadron passenger...... read more read more
Agile Combat Employment, the strategy of being able to rapidly disperse assets across vast areas, requires immense logistical planning, expertise and stewardship.
One way this rapid dispersal is enabled is through the employment of air mobility teams, like that deployed here during Freedom Flag 25-1.
“We are a ten-member mobile aerial port team consisting of an aerial port operation center, load planning, joint inspection, passenger services, cargo processing and ramp operations,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Noel Echevarria, 731st Air Mobility Squadron AMT lead.
The 731st AMS based at Osan Air Base, sent an AMT to Gimhae Air Base, and the 734th AMS based at Andersen Air Force Base, sent a team to Gwangju Air Base to support FF 25-1 operations.
“For the Freedom Flag 25-1 exercise we have utilized our aerial port operation center as the command-and-control function to monitor aircraft and dispatch our ramp operations and passenger services team,” said Echevarria. “The team offload passengers, cargo, and aircraft assets in support of the exercise.”
The team is able to expertly carry out their duties in the contingency environment because they maintain and hone their craft while at their home stations, said Echevarria.
Without these teams, their expertise and the missions they execute, the prosecution of U.S. and ROK air force objectives would be significantly impacted.
“This mission matters because we can showcase in real time the true diversity in skills and ability to integrate our forces to project rapid global mobility in any environment,” said Echevarria. “We are here to integrate and operate with airlift units our ROKAF partners and build on the foundation we have already established to protect the Korean peninsula in contingency situations.”
Sustainment is a challenge for most theaters and given the constraints that arise during contingency operations, mobility is the backbone of expeditionary sustainment, said U.S. Air Force Maj. David Carruth, 607th Air Operations Center airlift control team chief.
“AMTs provide the necessary teams to enable a ‘fight tonight’ mentality by conducting intratheater airlift, air-to-air refueling, and aeromedical evacuation to ensure our joint and coalition partners are prepared for the future operating environment,” Carruth said. “In the case of FF 25-1, mobility is engaging with our joint and coalition partners to build on emerging concepts such as Agile Combat Employment and Mission Ready Airmen to ensure that existing barriers are diminished.”
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.29.2025 04:06 |
| Story ID: | 496401 |
| Location: | GIMHAE AIR BASE, GYEONGSANGNAMDO [KYONGSANGNAM-DO], KR |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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