TMO Airmen keep people, cargo flowing

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. J. Russell Martin
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) --  The 2,000-pound, $100,000 aircraft part sitting in the maintenance hangar did not get here by a commercial carrier; it was packaged, shipped, tracked and delivered by Airmen of the Traffic Management Office.

The Airmen in the 376th Logistics Readiness Squadron’s TMO section have seen an influx of business since C-17 Globemaster IIIs began making regular flights here recently.

“We keep the personnel and cargo flowing in and out of Manas,” said Master Sgt. Edward Lilly, TMO superintendent from Misawa Air Base, Japan. “We ship a variety of goods, from (Army and Air Forces Exchange Service) goods, to finance documents, to blood from the medical group for testing purposes.”

Expanding as the strategic airlift hub of Operation Enduring Freedom, Manas officials welcomed the C-17 Globemaster IIIs from the 473rd Airlift Wing at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. along with their maintainers.

“One of the more interesting pieces of cargo we’ve received came here to support the new airlift mission,” Sergeant Lilly said. “We got the C-17s, and with them came maintenance crews to ensure they’re kept up. We received seven pallets of cargo just for that purpose. We received a number of aircraft parts as well as their (Aerospace Ground Equipment), which totaled (more than) 40,000 pounds of cargo, and that was just to maintain the C-17. It’s amazing when you think about it.”

The week before the C-17s arrived, TMO Airmen handled 163 pieces of cargo weighing more than 70,000 pounds. The Globemasters measure more than 170 feet long, nearly twice as long as a regular C-130 Hercules. With their arrival, the weight of the cargo doubled too. The first week the C-17s began flying strategic airlift missions from here, the Airmen handled nearly 240 pieces of cargo weighing in at more than 160,000 pounds.

Some of the cargo requires special handling to be shipped safely, Sergeant Lilly said.

“In order to ship cargo, we’ll build crates and skids, but the fun part is when we get a $100,000-aircraft part. You can’t just throw that in a box and ship it out,” he said. “We have to make inserts to keep the piece stable.”

Special packaging instructions come with the various pieces of high-value equipment to help TMO technicians properly prepare the pieces for shipping.

“They’re basically schematics,” said Staff Sgt. DeAndre Taylor, noncommissioned officer in charge of cargo, and deployed from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. “You look at it like a blue print to build a house. It tells you what materials you’ll need and how to put together whatever the contraption is. Once the insert is completed, you box the equipment up with it and band it all down. Then it’s ready to go.”

Moving cargo in and out as quickly as possible is vital to preserving the integrity of the shipment, Sergeant Lilly said.

When we get cargo in, we’ve got to get it out right away,” he said. “If I put the cargo outside, it’s susceptible to the elements -- the snow, the rain, etc. The plastic covering helps, but unless it’s moved to its final location, the water and critters will make their way into the cargo.”

Of course, with the increased workload, storage space is a factor as well, Sergeant Taylor said.

“A lot of stuff is coming in and out,” he said. “We need to ensure folks are getting their cargo when it comes in because we just don’t have the room to sit on it for long.”