Afghan aerial porters visit Bagram, learn to supply the fight more efficiently

Published Aug. 9, 2010
By Tech. Sgt. Drew Nystrom
455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- The 455th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron supplies the fight and Wednesday they trained their Afghan counterparts assigned to the aerial port at the Afghan National Army Air Force base at Kabul International Airport to do the same.

Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Marsh, ANAAF Aerial Port mentor assigned to the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing Combined Air Power Transition Force, assisted the Afghan aerial porters during the day at Bagram Airfield to see up-close how the U.S. Air Force operates what is considered the war's cargo hub.

"At Kabul, myself and another aerial port mentor help make sure they understand the procedures, operate as an aerial port and tweak whatever processes they already have" Marsh said.

"I'm not there to tell them, 'This is how it has to be.' Our job is to go in there and see what operation they have and tweak it," Sergeant Marsh said. "To make whatever little change is needed to help them succeed."

According to Sergeant Marsh, 27 Afghan airmen, who make up all of the aerial porters in the ANAAF, are responsible for moving cargo, ammunition, weapons and passengers on all ANAAF aircraft.

The visit to Bagram, Sergeant Marsh said, was to help the Aerial porters see, with their own eyes, some of the concepts and procedures he's been briefing them on in action.

"I tell them day-in and day-out that we process personnel this way, that we fill out paperwork this way and sometimes it's really hard to process all that information without physically seeing how it works," the Lake Luzerne, N.Y., native said.

"So, today is a great example to bring them up here and see how our aerial port operates. Then when they go back to Kabul they can have a better understanding of how to improve their processes," he said.

The mentoring program is working according to ANAAF Maj. Mohammad Dawood, the aerial port commander and Urozgan Province, Afghanistan, native.

The U.S. Air Force mentors are working well with his troops and passing along great information which will help them a lot, he said through an interpreter.

They are training the Afghan forces on how to best go about their jobs, he said. They really help them and the mentors always make time no matter how long it takes, the major said.

"They never say no," he said.

Never saying no and always working to build the Afghans' capability are all part of the job according to Sergeant Marsh.

"I am happy to be working with these guys," the sergeant said. "It gives you that feeling that you've done something, that you've accomplished something. At lot of times when you deploy you're working really hard moving cargo all over and you're supporting the war effort. But you don't see a lot in return," he said.

"With this mission I see a lot in return. I know when I'm telling them something and I see them doing it, that's my instruction and advice paying off. It lets me know they're actually listening and comprehending what I'm saying and understand it," Sergeant Marsh said.

The Air Force sergeant isn't the only one seeing returns from the mentoring program.

According to Major Dawood, the difference in the way the Afghan aerial porters did their jobs, and the way they go about it now, has changed a lot thanks to the mentorship.

"It is totally different", he said. "Everything is improved. The techniques and procedures learned from their mentors have greatly aided the Afghan ability to get cargo and personnel loaded and moved around their country."

Sergeant Marsh agreed that much progress has been made, but their mission is far from over.

"I think we're succeeding, but it's a slow process," he said. "Americans are not used to that. When we get handed a mission, we try to get it accomplished as quickly as possible. This mission is different. When you get in there and see the materials they have and what they are working with you get a different mindset. But they are progressing and that makes the mission worth it," Marsh said.

The confidence Sergeant Marsh exhibits toward the mission is also shared by the Afghans he mentors.

According to Mohammad Rahim, the most senior non-commissioned officer aerial porter in the group, they have never seen an operation like they saw at Bagram. His aerial porters saw equipment, procedures and techniques they can take back and apply to their own operations, he said through an interpreter.

With the assistance of the mentors, Rahim said, the future of the Afghan Air Force looks bright.