Expeditor training part of AFSO 21 initiatives

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Dwight Hawkins
  • Air Force Print News
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNEWS) --  Members of the 60th Aerial Port Squadron here are holding a two-week class to develop ways to eliminate time aircrews and loadmasters are spending on the ground after a flight.

Tech. Sgt. Ryan Holmes, a course director from the Air Mobility Warfare Center at Fort Dix, N.J., said they will train dozens of Airmen across the Air Force this year.

"We teach about four classes per year, per airframe (C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III) and we have about 12 to 15 students per class, so close to 50 students a year," Sergeant Holmes said.

The C-5 Aerial Port Expeditor Load Director's Course is part of an Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st century initiative that teaches students to load and unload cargo without the need for a loadmaster, which enables the loadmaster and aircrew to get rest sooner after a flight.

"We had a lot of limitations that slowed us down where we could only load half the aircraft and had to wait for a loadmaster to show up and watch us do our job. Now we can just go out to the aircraft, direct our crews and get the job done," said Staff Sgt. Daniel Houde from Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

Both active-duty military and civilian employees came from as far away as Hawaii,
Germany and Japan for the training.

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