Passenger Terminal

Courtesy Photo | Spc. Matthew A. Ellis from Human Resource Command 101st Soldier Support Battalion gives chalk commander Sgt. 1st Class Darrine Forrest from E Company 101st Aviation Regiment key information before his group goes on R & R.  

TIKRIT, IRAQ

02.02.2006

Courtesy Story

133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By 2nd Lt. Anthony D. Buchanan
133rd MPAD
February 2, 2006

TIKRIT, Iraq " Whether you are going on R & R, emergency leave, entering or exiting theater as a civilian or military, chances are pretty good that you have experienced the customer service provided by the personnel at the Passenger Terminal.

Soldiers of the Human Resource Command, 101st Soldier Support Battalion, keep accountability of everyone moving by air into Forward Operating Base Speicher. Every day they log personnel into their computer systems when they leave and once again when they return to verify that they have arrived safely.

"Our job is to ensure all Soldiers get out in accordance with the flight schedule," said Capt. Orlando Rojas, the 101st SSB Bravo Company commander.

Although the goal of the Soldiers at the Passenger Terminal is to get everyone out in accordance with the flight schedule, things don't always go as planned.

"Our board reads, Please realize that we do not control flights! All flights are subject to change or be cancelled at any given time," said 2nd Lt. Matthew J. Heiss, the Arrival/Departure Airfield Control Group Officer in Charge.

There are several things that affect the flight schedule, but there are some things that Soldiers and civilians can do to increase the likelihood of getting on a flight and getting to their destinations on time.

"More Air Movement Requests would be nice and would make our job easier," said Spc. Joan Nastrom, the day-shift outbound manifesting clerk.

"People get bumped off fights because they are (traveling) Space Available and they come in here after midnight. They sign up for a destination or FOB they want to go to," said Nastrom. "In the end, it's up to the crew chief."

The crew chief will look at the aircraft to determine the how many passengers can fly, said Nastrom. If the crew doesn't have any room, the passengers with AMRs will fly and the Space A passengers will stand by for another flight.

"You stage them out there when they are Space A and they drag all of their bags out there and wait 30 minutes to an hour to find out they can't get on a flight," said Sgt. Asante Rush, a manifesting team leader.

AMRs need to be submitted at least 24 hours before your departure time, and sometimes more depending on your higher headquarters. Soldiers and civilians also need to realize that they can still be bumped off of a flight with an AMR. This usually happens if there are Soldiers who need to get home for emergency leave or R & R.

The PAX team has to explain the situation to individuals who sometimes out rank them and can get pretty irate.

"It's not always easy telling someone you're not getting out today because we have to bump you to put some other guy on," said Heiss. "It's just one of those things you have to turn the other cheek."

"R & R and emergency leave are the priority," said Staff Sgt. John Majors, the A/DACG Non Commissioned Officer in Charge. "Sometimes we have to compare sending a soldier home on emergency leave or sending another soldier home on R & R and determine which one is more import. You're already looking at 20 to 30 hours before you can get back to the states and then try to get where you want to go."

Soldiers who are going home on emergency leave do so for a variety of reasons. Graduations, baby births and spending time with family members who are terminally ill are just a few.

"Our biggest thing is when you get the flight critical ones trying to get them back home to get that one last chance to be with terminally ill family members," said Majors. "It doesn't always happen, but you know you made that effort."

"You can lay down at night and say, "Yea, I did what I could"," added Heiss.

The PAX team does everything they can to get everybody where they want to go.

"It makes you feel real good knowing that you helped someone get home for emergency leave, R & R, or redeploy after they have been here a year or for over a year," said Sgt. Tad E. Pugh, a team leader. "It's always nice to get them home."

"Taking care of soldiers is the most important part of our mission," said Pugh, "we make sure they get to where they need to be to support the mission, as well as getting home when they need to get home."

• Date Taken: 02.02.2006
• Date Posted: 02.02.2006 15:43
• Story ID: 5291
• Location: TIKRIT, IQ