Mildenhall LRS flight ready to roll as one-stop shop for deployments
US Air Forces in Europe News
Release Date: 11/04/2002
By Capt. Shane Balken 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England (USAFENS) -- Getting from "here to there" has always been a challenge for military units preparing for deployments. These days with the seemingly never-ending amount of taskings, unit readiness has become a major concern for senior leadership in ensuring the U.S. military is up to the challenge of leaving at a moments notice.
Enter the 100th Logistics Readiness Squadron here and its readiness flight. Thirty-seven members of the 100th LRS flight could just as well share the U.S. Postal system's motto of "We Deliver." Rain or shine, they are responsible for the immense task of moving Team Mildenhall's people and cargo all over the world, usually in a matter of weeks, days or even hours.
"When it comes to moving something, we're your one-stop shopping for planning, coordinating and executing any deployment," said Master Sgt. James Ridgeway, contingency planning and training superintendent. Ridgeway and 10 others man the contingency planning and training element of the readiness flight primarily focusing on combat readiness, war reserve material and support agreements.
In the last year, the element has processed 5,260 people and more than 4.2 million tons of cargo from Team Mildenhall to locations worldwide. And the year isn't finished yet. The readiness flight is on track to be involved with 25 separate deployments ranging in size from 10 people to nearly 600 by the time 2002 is over. Considering the 100th LRS didn't even exist five months ago, the squadron and its six flights have done a seamless job of merging what used to be three functions into one.
"To me, this (readiness flight) is the best example of the merger," said Capt. Maria Roberts, readiness flight commander. "When supply, transportation and logistics plans merged, they each directly contributed to the flight. Everyone in the flight has really embraced the logistics readiness concept and has remained flexible. It's a real credit to the people in the flight for making the transition go so well."
So how do 37 people move the equivalent of 13 KC-135s at their maximum take off weight and a small city of 5,260 people? "A lot of coordination and augmentation from around the base," said Master Sgt. Curlie Alexander, wing deployment operations superintendent.
"When we receive the initial notification of a deployment or tasking order, we first sit down in a large group and plan out what the requirements are, departure dates, location, mobility lines, medical needs and aircraft needed to make it work," said Alexander.
Cargo airlift is the preferred choice when assets need to be in place on short notice but if time permits, surface movement is becoming a more commonly used option said Tech. Sgt. Michael Bouwman, deployment operations noncommissioned officer in charge.
"We're entering a new phase of moving cargo with trucks using mostly commercial carriers. Location and airlift capability are the main issues in determining transportation. Truck's are cheaper and more reliable and if you have the time, it just makes sense," said Bouwman.
The readiness and war readiness (formerly mobility bags) elements round out the flight and are the first to start the engine on the mobility machine when a deployment kicks off.
Staff Sgt. LeeAnn Bourgeois, readiness journeyman, works in the readiness section and said her office becomes the unit control center when deployments start, ensuring everyone in the squadron is doing their job correctly.
When asked what it takes to make any deployment a success, Bourgeois was quick to respond. "Initiative, know-how, and a sense of urgency are key in what's needed for processing people and cargo. We're in charge of keeping the information flowing to everyone involved and you can't take a passive approach when time is working against you."
On average, most people leave for deployments only a few times during their assignment at RAF Mildenhall but when it's your job to make sure deployments run smoothly for everyone else, the intricacies of the process become very apparent, said 1st Lt. Jon Baum, contingency planning and training chief.
"Every deployment within Team Mildenhall is usually invisible to the outsider if they're not involved. But when it comes time to deploy, our small office makes a huge impact on the wing during those periods," said Baum.
The war readiness section is one of the few units on base who see every single military member of Team Mildenhall-twice.
"At a minimum we'll see everyone twice on this base when we issue and collect equipment. We deal with a wide range of inventory from weapons, ammo, mobility bags and chemical gear," said Staff Sgt. Gary Moore, war readiness assistant NCOIC.
The element also tracks all the personnel folders and deployment gear for Team Mildenhall, handling more than 13,000 customer related actions this year to include in-processing, deployments and out-processing.
Team Mildenhall's readiness for any deployment or tasking is ultimately the responsibility of everyone on base. But rest assured, when it absolutely, positively has to get from "here to there", 37 people in the readiness flight guarantee Team Mildenhall's delivery will be there on time.
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