United States Transportation Command

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OPERATION EDURING FREEDOM (USTCNS) --- Supporting Operation Enduring Freedom requires a lot of moving parts, and there's probably none better at moving those parts than the 730th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron here.

In peacetime, the 730th EAMS was a small air terminal detachment that serviced Air Mobility Command aircraft delivering cargo from time to time for various Air Force missions here. After Sept. 11, the unit swelled from eight to 80 people and processed cargo airlifted here to support the 40th Air Expeditionary Wing's OEF bomber operations.

Then recently, the 730th EAMS became a hub for a hub-and-spoke operation when C-17 Globemaster IIIs were prepositioned here to move U.S. Army ground forces into Afghanistan.

A hub-and-spoke is a system of routing air traffic through an airport that serves as a central point for coordinating flights to and from other airports.

As the war on terrorism progressed, the Army's 101st Airborne Division was directed to replace the Marines at Kandahar. The quickest means to get the 101st AD on the ground there was through airlift.

Maximizing the long-haul capability of the C-5, and the short runway landing capability of the C-17, the Army soldiers and cargo were airlifted from Kentucky, transferred from C-5s to C-17s here, and then delivered to Kandahar.

"The objective is to trans-load cargo directly off the C-5 into the C-17 so (the C-17) can meet its scheduled departure times for Kandahar," said Lt. Col. Gary Gutowsky, 730th EAMS commander.

"One of the biggest challenges of our hub-and-spoke operation here is meeting hard departure times levied on the C-17s. One day, we downloaded a C-5 that just landed and trans-loaded its cargo onto two C-17s in only three hours in order to meet the scheduled departure time. Both C-17s launched for Afghanistan that evening."

The 730th EAMS is set up just like a permanent hub-and-spoke operation with three main functions: command and control, maintenance and aerial port.

Command and control operations, or C2, processes information on all AMC aircraft traveling through here on channel (routine) missions to include the C-5, C-141, commercial contract carriers and some KC-10s.

Airman 1st Class Kyle Eakin, deployed from the 60th Air Mobility Wing command post at Travis AFB, Calif., is one of the C2 controllers with the 730th EAMS. "I manage basic airfield operations, pull flight plans and itineraries off the (computerized Global Decision Support System), file requests for diplomatic clearance, and flight follow aircraft. All and all, C2 ensures the missions get in and out of here," he said.

Eakin is proud of his participation in OEF. "The best thing about being here is the great experience I'm getting," he said. "Every day brings a different challenge--I've learned a lot (about the Air Force) by being here."

After an AMC aircraft lands here, the airframe is handed over to maintenance and the aerial port handles the cargo, fleet services and air terminal operations. Normally a one-person slot in peacetime, the 730th EAMS aerial port operation swelled to nearly 40 people to help move the Army to Afghanistan.

Overseeing aerial port operations is Master Sgt. Kathleen Trisdale, aerial port superintendent, deployed here from the 615th AMS, Travis AFB, Calif. "I make sure all aspects of the aerial port and fleet services is covered," said Trisdale. "I coordinate mission support with the (Air Terminal Operations Center) and make sure everything happens when it's supposed to happen."

The aerial port primarily handles OEF cargo trans-loaded between the C-5 and the C-17. Aerial port personnel also operate all of the material handling equipment used to offload and onload cargo and pallets carried by AMC aircraft. Fleet services cares for all of the sanitary needs on AMC aircraft and the ATOC manages crew mission paperwork and passenger services.

The ATOC also acts as a liaison between the 730th EAMS and deployed C-17 and KC-10 operations.

"I've been in AMC from the beginning, primarily at fixed aerial ports," said Trisdale. "Trans-shipment operations between the C-5 and the C-17 are new to me. It's fascinating to work these missions here."

Keeping the C-5s flying is a daily challenge for the 730th EAMS C-5 maintenance according to Tech. Sgt. Valentin Chapa, 433rd AMW (Air Force Reserve Command), Lackland AFB, Texas, C-5 crew chief and maintenance manager. The maintenance team's primary job here is to recover, repair and launch the C-5, said Chapa.

"We recover the jets on arrival, check the aircraft (maintenance) forms and evaluate maintenance fault codes (indicators to help troubleshoot for repairs)," said Chapa. Then we schedule any maintenance or repairs, fuel onloads and, and then launch the aircraft.

A team of about 30 crew chiefs and C-5 specialists here, mostly from the reserves, turn an average of two to three C-5s per day that stay on the ground an average of six hours each. The 14th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-17 maintenance team handles hub-and-spoke maintenance for the C-17.

"There is always something new or different … a curve ball is thrown at us every day," said Chapa. "I like curve balls because of the challenge. It keeps us alert."

For example, a C-5 launched from here recently experienced a maintenance problem just after takeoff. It had to return for repairs. The plane had a bad sensor and the specialist, Tech. Sgt. Brad Frederick, was able to repair the sensor contact with a piece of magnetic metal he cut from the lid of a shoe polish can. His "fix" allowed the aircraft to continue on its assigned mission, Chapa explained.

"Maintainers here are awesome. Very creative," said Gutowsky. (The other day) we had three broken airplanes. They moved parts among the three of them and got two repaired and launched out of here.

"It's a total force operation here with the guard, reserves and active duty all working together," Gutowsky continued. "I'm absolutely impressed with (them)."

Numbers are proof of Gutowsky's testament. Since Sept. 20, the 730th EAMS has moved over 27,000 short tons of cargo and 13,000 passengers; Nearly 3,300 short tons and 940 passengers belonged to the 101st AD bound for Afghanistan aboard the C-17s here.

"Great teamwork and effort stands out among everything we do here," said Gutowsky. "It's (the 730th EAMS team's) good attitude that gets the job done."

(FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)

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730th EAMS 'hub and spoke' keeps OEF moving

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