Bastion Airmen have small paw print, large mission

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Joseph Kapinos
  • AFCENT Combat Camera Team
CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan (AFNS) --  A team of Airmen handles thousands of passengers, pallets and vehicles flying into Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.

The 'Port Dawgs,' as they liked to be called, proudly proclaim that they move as much cargo here as their unit does back home.

But they have approximately 15 people instead of 200 handling the thousands of passengers and tons of cargo arriving monthly at the air field.

The team is comprised of aerial porters, vehicle maintainers and leadership primarily deployed from Pope Air Force Base, N.C. They work loading and unloading cargo coming to the U.S. Marine and British Army run base in the Helmand Province, the site of recent fighting.

"Our mission here at Bastion is to upload and download all of the cargo coming in to the base here, supporting the U.S. Marines and Army, along with our British and coalition partners," said Master Sgt. Steve Thomas, from the 451st Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, Detachment 1.

Along with their Marine partners, the team works taking care of passenger movement and cargo handling, making sure the right equipment and personnel get where they need to go. Their success lies in their willingness to work together with other units on base to accomplish the mission.

"One of the first things we did was get involved with the Marines, making connections with them and moving forward from there, working as a team. Because of our willingness to do that, our success rate has gone through the roof," said Capt. Edward Hubshman, the 451st ELRS, Det. 1 commander.

The 'Port Dawgs,' are a small Air Force unit on the base, primarily run by the U.S. Marine Corps and British Army. Along with an Air Force combat search and rescue unit, they have a small presence on the base, but a large mission, with many units relying on their ability to move cargo.

"On a day-to-day basis, our team will work close to 30 aircraft, each full of cargo or passengers," Sergeant Thomas said. "We have to be very flexible because that plane could be a civilian contract plane or a C-17 Globemaster III. All of them need to be downloaded and it's our job to make sure it is done safely, quickly and effectively."

His team does that very well, much to the delight of the aircrews flying into the remote base in Southern Afghanistan, Sergeant Thomas said.

"I have been told by many of the crews that they love to come here; that we are the best load crew in both Iraq and Afghanistan because of how quickly we get them downloaded and uploaded," he said.

The team is proud of their accomplishments and even more proud of the fact they are keeping pace with the much larger units in Afghanistan, especially at Kandahar, where the main squadron is located. With the upcoming surge in people and equipment, the team is ready to handle the increased number of people coming to the region.

"With the plus up looming, we have seen more and more cargo and personnel being downloaded, but less and less being uploaded," Sergeant Thomas said.

But Capt. Hubshman isn't concerned with the increased workloads on his team.

"I have told them to go ahead and send what you need to send; we will take care of it," he said.