Transient-alert team packs ‘em in

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Andrew Gates
  • 455th Expeditionary Operations Group Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) --  Standing on the flightline here, people can see a lot of strange birds -- “birds” with names like AN-12, L-1011 and IL-76.

These “birds,” and a host of other Soviet-built aircraft, join other, more common C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster IIIs on the flightline here, bringing supplies to coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Parking these aircraft, which are often on the ground for one or two hours, can be a challenge -- a challenge handled by the Airmen in transient alert.

“Our main mission is to park all the transient aircraft coming into Bagram,” said Master Sgt. Kerry Meyers from the 455th Expeditionary Logistics Squadron. He is reservist deployed here from McChord Air Force Base, Wash.

“If the aircraft has some type of maintenance problem, we also try to help fix it as best we can,” he said.

The task can be a bit tougher at night, since the airfield operates without the lighting prevalent at many Air Force installations, said Sergeant Meyers.

“We don’t have the football stadium lights here, since the pilots have to come in under low lighting conditions,” he said. “We use light wands and mark the parking spots with chemical sticks. The big difference is having to be more careful -- conditions drastically change at night.”

As most of the transient-alert Airmen are crew chiefs with a background in airlift, they are easily able to handle most of the minor situations that arise with aircraft.

“We have done a couple of tire changes and brake changes while we have been here,” Sergeant Meyers said. “We had one aircraft that came in with engine problems that we helped with.”

Although parking airplanes might seem like a routine or tedious job, it is not, said Sergeant Meyers. There is a great amount of forethought that goes into the process, as the Airmen park an average of 14 transient aircraft each 12-hour shift. Since each aircraft is on the ground for at least an hour for uploading and downloading, they need to carefully plan the process, said Senior Airman Randy Johnson.

“We will park the planes in different spots depending on what they have to load or unload, whether or not they need fuel and who’s on board,” Airman Johnson said. “Some crews don’t know the airfield as well as we do. We’re able to help get them positioned to achieve their mission.”

“We have to juggle the aircraft with the limited parking spots,” said Sergeant Meyers. “We’ve had as many as five aircraft on the ground at once, so it can be difficult to keep the taxiways and surrounding areas open.”

The team has had as many as 18 aircraft landing at Bagram in a shift.

“Our job has a huge impact,” said Sergeant Meyers. “We are making sure the supplies for the base are able to come in and get off-loaded quickly.”

With the large number of coalition forces, as well as foreign aircraft, coming through Bagram, the Airmen deal with many foreign crews.

“We try to put everything in the simplest possible terms,” said Sergeant Meyers.”

“We have very few problems,” Airman Johnson said. “Most of the time, they have someone on board, usually a load master, who can speak English.”

The Airmen usually do not have to provide a great deal of help to most of the aircraft, both foreign and domestic, as they usually have a maintenance crew on board, Airman Johnson said. The transient alert team can also draw on resources from other Bagram flying agencies.

Keeping the air traffic moving smoothly through Bagram is important to keeping the overall mission, helping secure Afghanistan and support Afghan voter registration efforts. The Airmen in transient alert are very aware of their impact on that mission.

“I’m proud to be here,” said Sergeant Meyers. “I’ve volunteered for two tours here. It’s good to be contributing to the war on terrorism.”