Transient alert Airmen catch, park, launch aircraft

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. J. Russell Martin
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) --  How many folks do you know that can get a 550,000-pound steel aircraft to follow them down the street? The Airmen at transient alert here can.

KC-10 Extenders, C-5 Galaxies, C-130 Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III’s, 747s and 757s -- if it flies into Manas, the Airmen at transient alert can catch it, park it and launch it, and then do it all over again.

Six crew chiefs comprise the 376th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron transient alert section. Skilled on a variety of aircraft, the crew chiefs keep any aircraft not assigned to Manas ready to go until time to depart. They are like hotel valets, according to one Airman.

“Not many people realize what goes into catching, parking and putting aircraft back into the sky to fly from one location to another,” said Master Sgt. Samuel Pena, transient alert supervisor. “As aircraft mechanics, we see it all. Behind the scenes, everything from the fueling to the final load of cargo (comes) together when the passengers are loaded up and the door closes.”

With Manas’ role expanding as the cargo hub for Central Asia, Tech Sgt. Tadd Goehring, shift supervisor, and Senior Airman Damon Pearson, crew chief, have seen the direct results of increased airflow through Manas.

“Looking through some of the old logs, you could see around 50 transient aircraft flowing a month,” Airman Pearson said. “In February, we had more than 50 in the last week alone and nearly triple that for the month.”

February brought another challenge officials said.

“In February, all bets were off -- especially when it was snowing and there was a heavy flying schedule,” Sergeant Pena said.

Such was the case when Manas received 16 inches of snow over four days in the middle of the Operation Enduring Freedom 5 and 6 Army rotation which put operations to the test.

“Every available deicer was utilized to the max, and every effort possible was being made to repair the deicers that were down,” Sergeant Pena said.

A typical deicer storage tank holds about 2,500 gallons of the fluid. At the height of the Army rotation, he and his crew chiefs went through several thousand gallons of deicer, Sergeant Goehring said.

“With heavy snow and reduced visibility, aircraft landing and taking off in these extreme conditions made us realize what we can do as a team working together to accomplish and meet mission objectives successfully,” Sergeant Pena said.

But with the mercury rising as spring approaches, the workload for the transient alert Airmen is not expected to slow.

“There isn’t one day when we don’t have something rolling through here, and that’s when we have to roll with it,” said Airman Pearson.