Mobile readiness team gets pallets back into the system Published Jan. 23, 2008 By Senior Airman Terri Barriere 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- The Airmen assigned to Task Force 586 here recently took on an additional tasking to redistribute equipment and supplies for the Army. Mobile redistribution teams go to forward-operating bases throughout Iraq to collect excess supplies, and the Airmen searched for pallets crucial for the air mobility mission. "While the primary mission of the force is redistribution, policing up pallets was added to provide Airmen a chance to support the Air Force mission and assist the theater in getting critically needed pallets back into the system," said Lt. Col. Heather Buono, the 732nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, Det. 1 commander. The Airmen took on the assignment with enthusiasm, Colonel Buono said. They did astonishing work getting the cargo pallets back to the air mobility system. In order to collect the overage supplies, the teams must first conduct a complete inventory to determine if containers have been unclaimed or abandoned. "While the team walks the (forward operating base) to conduct their inventory, they frequently find pallets either waiting to get back into the air mobility system or being used improperly as flooring, walls, wash racks, occasionally as bridges for radio frequency race car tracks and other imaginative uses," she said. "Upon completion of the excess mission, the team polices up the pallets." Mobile redistribution teams are "in-lieu-of" taskings, and are comprised of Airmen from predominantly logistics specialties -- traffic management, vehicle and munitions maintenance, and supply -- but also include administrative and finance Airmen. The group worked well and exhibited exceptional warrior ethos while getting the job done, Colonel Buono said. On a recent mission, the MRT collected more than 2,400 pallets in three weeks. There were; however, bumps along the road to the team's success. At one point during the mission, the team ran short on top nets needed to tie-down the pallets. Fortunately, Tech. Sgt. Anita Herrada-Johnson, a traffic management noncommissioned officer deployed from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., had a few tricks up her sleeve. "Sergeant Herrada-Johnson was the only team member familiar with using banding machines, but was able to train the other Airmen to use the machine to temporarily tie the side nets together," the colonel said. Sergeant Herrada-Johnson and Capt. Frederick Mueller, a logistics officer deployed from Charleston AFB, S.C., provided additional training to get the team up to speed with netting procedures. Captain Mueller said he was impressed the team's ability to pull together to accomplish the mission, despite their diverse professional backgrounds. The mobile redistribution team has collected more than 5,200 cargo pallets to date. While this may seem like a tedious job to some, Colonel Buono said they're just happy to doing a job that makes a difference. Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) View the comments/letters page