Air Force Print News
02/06/03 - RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) -- The number of cargo aircraft that pass through this base shot up by 60 percent in the past year, and there is no slowdown in sight.
That means airmen here, already working 14- to 16-hour days to keep up with the increase, can expect to load and unload many more aircraft, said Col. Dave Smith, commander of the 723rd Air Mobility Squadron here.
Smith said the first rise in business took place right after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. That was at the start of operations in Afghanistan. Now, with the U.S. buildup going on in the Middle East, traffic has gone up again. Plus, Air Force airlift continues to sustain U.S. forces in the Balkans and Africa.
"We're handling a lot of cargo at Ramstein," he said. "And the volume makes us the busiest cargo port in Europe."
But Smith was quick to point out that Ramstein is not the only base that is busy. Activity at all the other strategic airlift hubs in Europe is just at hectic.
That is especially true at Rhein-Main Air Base, about 85 miles east of Ramstein, he said. Activity there just does not let up, though the base is slowly gearing down for its closure in 2005.
"The folks at Rhein-Main are pretty damn busy," he said. "It's probably the busiest aerial port we have in Europe."
Rhein-Main's 726th Air Mobility Squadron -- with help from active-duty, Guard and Reserve airmen on temporary duty there -- handles from 25 to 30 military transports a day. Once called the "Gateway to Europe," the base is still the port of entry and departure for all military people and their families stationed in Germany. The number of people the squadron moves through the base averages about 25,000 a month.
Rhein-Main stays busy because it handles most of the airflow at the start of contingency operations in the theater, said Senior Master Sgt. John McAllister, Ramstein's superintendent of aerial port operations. Ramstein handles the airlift that then sustains troops at forward bases.
"When our troops deploy, they take what they can carry on their backs," McAllister said. "As soon as they're in place, airlift kicks in to sustain them."
Most of the cargo to sustain troops -- which can arrive in Europe on C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III, C-141 Starlifter and contracted Boeing 747 freighters -- flows through Ramstein.
McAllister said the increase of airflow into Ramstein since Sept. 11, 2001, amounts to about a 300-percent increase in the workload for the air mobility squadron's more than 600 airmen. Given the base runs a "quick turn" operation, the airmen are on the go around the clock.
The squadron handles an average of 70 aircraft a day, he said. Some days the figure is less, but on others the number jumps to more than 100. Most are military transports, but the squadron also works with the 747s, which carry 42 pallets of cargo. It can take up to four hours to load or unload one of the big commercial carriers.
Squadron airmen do more than move cargo. They handle aerial port operations at the base, including running the passenger terminal for the 86th Airlift Wing, the base's host. The airmen greet and launch aircraft, load and unload passengers and refuel, service and repair military aircraft. They also direct the movement of aircraft to and from the base.
But it is the airmen on the ramp most people associate with cargo movement.
One of those airmen is Staff Sgt. Dennis Munson, a Ramstein ramp services supervisor. That is where the action is, he said. It is where the airmen configure the loads they will put in the cargo planes and where they bring the stuff they offload from the aircraft.
"We have to load the planes so they can take off on time," he said. Working several hours past a 12-hour shift is routine. "If we don't, our troops down range won't get what they need."
Smith said his airmen will continue to work long hours and as Ramstein's mission continues to increase, turning airplanes will depend on an already hard-pressed work force.
"We'll continue to rely on our folks to do their (jobs) and handle the increase," Smith said.
Ramstein does not get much extra help in the form of airmen sent on temporary duty to augment the base work force as other bases in Europe. Therefore, McAllister said his people will just have to "suck it up" and handle the increase on their own. There is no other choice.
"Our job is to run a strategic air hub," he said. "That means airplanes must make on-time departures. That's the whole game."
There are a few people trickling in to help at Ramstein. Most are reservists doing their two-weeks of active-duty time. Tech. Sgt. Janet Reed, an aerial port technician, is one of them. She arrived last week from the 73rd Air Mobility Squadron at Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base Forth Worth, Texas. It is her first time in Europe, and she does not mind the long days.
"What we're doing here is important to me because this is how I'm helping protect our freedoms," she said. "I'll do whatever it takes to do that -- for me, my kids, and hopefully, my grandkids."
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