Photo By Master Sgt. Jenifer Calhoun | Staff Sgt. Phillip Belnavis and other air transportation Airmen from the 380th...... read more read more
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SOUTHWEST ASIA -- It was late May when Master Sgt. Robert Weatherly was watching one of his aerial porters load a semi trailer into a C-17 Globemaster III and said, "He is one of the best at doing this." He showed he was a proud leader.
Weatherly, the superintendent of the 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron's Air Terminal Operations Center at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia, leads a group of 11 air transportation Airmen, or aerial porters, who manage the entire aerial port operation for a deployed wing of more than 1,900 people. That includes a myriad of responsibilities -- from cargo on- and off-loading to passenger movement.
"To start with, the team I have here is comprised of folks from my very own home station," said Weatherly. "Joint Base Andrews has volunteered to accept this location as our full time 'home away from home.' It makes it a lot easier to transition in and out of this location knowing you are replacing folks who handle their business in the same manner here as we do at home.
All the aerial porters supporting the 380th AEW come from the 89th Aerial Port Squadron at Joint Base Andrews. Weatherly expressed high confidence in his team and their abilities to complete the aerial port mission at this Southwest Asia base.
"The difficulties of replacing personnel from different bases and units are eliminated in our steady deployment here," said Weatherly, whose hometown is Annapolis, Md. "We have built-in continuity in place, and the value of that is immeasurable. I have a team of 11 high speed, 'no fail' Airmen and NCOs. Although the mission here is very different than the distinguished visitor-heavy mission we work at home, our deployed aerial porters can accomplish both seamlessly. That, in itself, really speaks to the quality of transporters who I am deployed with."
In being deployed, Weatherly said it provides an opportunity to get back to "2T2 basics," citing the 2T2X1 designator for the air transportation Air Force specialty.
"Our aerial porters get to practice handling cargo, loading grey tails, moving passengers and just making it happen for the warfighter," said, Sergeant Weatherly, whose hometown is Annapolis, Md. "Versatility here is requirement number one. You may be loading passengers and bags on a commercial rotator one minute and pulling a KC-10 engine off a loader the next. That fact is not lost on these folks. Every day presents a unique and difficult challenge, but my troops live for it."
Senior Airman Brittny Williams, air transportation journeyman on the ATOC team and whose hometown areas are Sherrills Ford and Catawba County, N.C., said she's improved her skills during her deployment.
"Working here in the deployed environment has helped me better my skills as an aerial porter," Airman Williams said. "I've learned a lot more about cargo movement, tractor-trailer loading and more."
For Senior Airman Nicholas Worrell, also an aerial porter on the team whose hometown is Robins, Iowa, being part of the deployed aerial port mission is also a unique experience.
"Being an aerial porter has its fun every day," Airman Worrell said. "Anything can happen. I do like being an aerial porter. Any job the lets me work around aircraft is a fun job."
Sergeant Weatherly said that no matter what his aerial porters come across, they remain ready for action.
"Whether they are launching the President of the United States or a foreign head of state back home at Andrews or they are supporting the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions here in the 380th, they attack each mission with the same fervor and accomplish the mission with the same superior results wherever they are," Sergeant Weatherly said. "The fact that I can bring 11 people with 11 personalities out here and accomplish a mission that is so far out the norm from their day-to-day duties back home is amazing."
No matter what the deployed area, Weatherly said what his team is able to accomplish daily is proof that aerial porters are at the heart of support for the mobility mission at this base that supports operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.
"It's well-documented that one of the great strengths of our Air Force is its ability to project forces globally in minimal time," Weatherly said. "Aerial porters play an important role in that force projection. We are responsible for expediting the movement of critical assets that keeps our tankers flying which refuel our fighters and transports that, in turn, either brings in reinforcements and supplies or provide vital air cover for our ground forces.
"It's our duty, as aerial porters, to ensure we are moving ISR support assets either forward to the battlefield or to headquarters for intelligence gathering," Weatherly added. "If we are lax in our approach to our mission, the quality of support we provide to the warfighter is degraded and that can have life or death consequences. It's in that critical logistical piece that we provide top notch support and ensure mission success."
The 380th ELRS is a sub-unit of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. The wing is home to the KC-10 Extender, U-2 Dragonlady E-3 Sentry and RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft. The wing is comprised of five groups and 18 squadrons and the wing's deployed mission includes air refueling, air battle management, surveillance, and reconnaissance in support of overseas contingency operations in Southwest Asia.
| Date Taken: | 06.17.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 06.17.2010 03:11 |
| Story ID: | 51516 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 169 |
| Downloads: | 117 |
This work, Andrews aerial porters keep deployed mission moving in Southwest Asia, by MSgt Jenifer Calhoun, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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