Aerial Porters, Loadmasters Train for Success

By Senior Airman Spencer Gallien
94th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

Hanger 5 was an abundance of activity during a training exercise involving the 80th Aerial Port Squadron and the 700th Airlift squadron during the May unit training assembly.

In a training scenario, the 80th's air transportation specialists worked with loadmasters from the 700th to transfer 12,000 pounds of mission-essential cargo and four passengers to Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. From there the cargo would be forwarded to the warfighters in the Middle East.

"Years ago, before the 700th became a training unit, our loadmasters normally trained with the 80th's aerial porters," said Master Sgt. Richard Graddy, 700th AS senior loadmaster instructor. "Now that we are going back to performing world-wide missions we're looking forward to having our loadmasters train with the aerial porters more often."

During the training exercise, air transportation specialists (also referred to as aerial porters and "port dawgs") configured cargo and passengers for transport on a C-130H Hercules. The loadmasters inspected pallets and assisted the aerial porters with the loading of cargo onto the C-130s.

The day's work included aerial porters from the Air Terminal Operations Center, Passenger Operations, Ramp Services and Cargo Services.

"This training really helps us to succeed," said Tech. Sgt. Mitchell Brown, 80 APS ATOC senior controller. "We give our junior Airman, who haven't deployed, the opportunity to work with scenarios that are very similar to ones they may encounter while in the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility."

The training gave Airman foresight into operating with older machinery, as well as some of the issues that may arise while working in real-world situations.

Senior Airman Cameron Janzen, 80th APS Ramp Services air transportation journeyman, who also led the load team during the exercise, said that the exercise allowed for Airmen to recognize what they were doing right, but also to address the things that need work.

"Today, people did what they were told to do," he added. "That was probably the best part of the exercise--the communication. However, there are areas where we can improve. We'll go back and address those areas to become safer and better at what we do."

The day began with Cargo Services preparing the cargo on pallets so they may be properly loaded on to the C-130. This may sound like a simple enough process, however, each pallet must be correctly weighed, designated and counter-weighted to ensure they will fit and allow proper flight of the aircraft.

"It's extremely important that the Airman become accustomed to these processes," said Staff Sgt. Jonathan Garland, 80th APS Cargo Services specialist. "They must correctly weigh and set up each pallet to ensure a smooth overall process that allows for the 'mission-essential cargo' to get to where it needs to go in a timely manner."

The aerial port's passenger terminal was also able to train during the scenario, bringing in five passengers of which two were continuing on the C-130H flight to Charleston AFB. Two more passengers arrived at the terminal to also catch the mock flight totaling four passengers and 800 pounds of additional cargo to process for the exercise.

"We tried to make the exercise as close to real as possible," said Staff Sgt. Clay Konas, 80th APS Passenger Services. "We never want to be the weak link, and since we don't have an active port, we must train hard to gain that experience."

Although the 80th APS planned the training, the 700th ALS loadmasters were also able to take advantage of the training opportunities the exercise provided.

The two groups joined together to create life-like training for the units on an actual C-130 aircraft. For the loadmasters, the most unique aspect of the training for the loadmasters was the size of the pallets.

"The pallets we're loading were out of the norm' for us, it definitely wasn't the typical size we're used to loading in our standard training scenario's," said Airman Matt Massey, 700 ALS loadmaster. "It's definitely good experience for both of us to work together, especially with these more difficult scenarios."