RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – After many months of planning, coordinating and preparation, 21st Theater Sustainment Command’s 1st Human Resources Sustainment Center personnel were able to put their hard work to use as they welcomed passengers at the Ramstein Passenger Terminal from the first Patriot Express flight at the Ramstein Gateway Reception Center here Feb. 7.
The 1st Human Resources Sustainment Center received and in-processed approximately 120 soldiers and family members.
The Patriot Express is a Department of Defense-chartered method of air travel,which transits between the Baltimore-Washington International Airport and Ramstein Air Base. Eventually it will be the primary airlift for soldiers, family members and Department of Defense civilians on permanent change of station and temporary duty orders between Germany and the U.S.
During the reception, Ramstein Gateway Reception Center personnel in-processed 52 soldiers, 68 family members and 10 pets, in addition to 293 bags. Newly-arrived soldiers were sent to 11 different U.S. Army Europe military communities throughout Germany.
Previously the 1st Human Resources Sustainment Center processed about 19,000 soldiers and family members yearly at the Frankfurt International Airport. Now with the inception of the new phase of the Patriot Express, they are capable of processing this same number of personnel even more efficiently.
According to Maj. Patrick Niestzche, the officer in charge of the Ramstein Gateway Reception Center, and a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the Ramstein Gateway Reception Center staff set a goal to have all soldiers and family members in-processed within three hours from the time the first person steps off the aircraft till the time the last person departs on the bus headed toward their assigned duty station.
The Ramstein Gateway Reception Center not only achieved their goal but completed their mission with time to spare, in processing 120 personnel in two hours and 40 minutes.
“Today the mission went as we had planned, all timelines were met and we successfully processed all the Army permanent change of station soldiers and family members through our reception center and on to their community of assignment,” said Niestzche.
“Our goal was to be able to process all soldiers and family members and have them on the way to their gaining military communities within three hours of flight arrival. We were able to accomplish that, which is a huge success for us,” said Niestzche. “With this being the first time we have done this process at the Ramstein Gateway, as with any other mission we came away with a lot of after action review comments and things we still need to work on internally to make this reception mission an even more efficient and streamlined system.”
“One of the guys that I was in-processing said things were flowing really smooth and that we should keep up the good work,” said Spc. Nicholas J. Collington, a liaison at the Ramstein Gateway Reception Center and a native of Washington D.C. “That was a good to hear from a sergeant first class so I feel the process was very successful.”
The reception team at Ramstein Air Base will continue tracking flights and possible delays and be readily available to receive incoming personnel regardless of the time or day the flight arrives.
“On a one to 10 scale I would give this experience an eight and up, it was an excellent trip and everything else went so smooth. It was well above any other flight I’ve ever taken,” said Spc. Trenton Kerschner, a K-9 handler headed to Wiesbaden, Germany, and a native of Hot Springs, Va. “I would definitely do this again. If I could catch one of these on leave while I’m going home I would love to, rather than catching a civilian flight.”