Mobility Airman profile: AMC aerial porter at Yokota supports Operation Tomodachi

Published March 24, 2011
By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- On March 20, Airman 1st Class Hayden Boeglin of the 730th Air Mobility Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan, spent a good part of his day loading humanitarian supplies and cargo on to a C-17 Globemaster III.

As an air transportation journeyman, or aerial porter, Airman Boeglin was working as part of a larger effort for Operation Tomodachi -- the humanitarian relief operation by the U.S. military to help the people of Japan after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the country March 11.

On the day Airman Boeglin was part of the team of aerial porters loading the C-17, they were loading cargo in a plane that was among the first to deliver cargo to Sendai Airport, Japan, which was damaged and hit by the tsunami and reopened by special operations Airmen.

According to a 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs news report from Yokota AB, those first C-17 missions delivered an all-terrain forklift numerous pallets of water, blankets and food for the Japanese people.

Airman Boeglin's participation in Operation Tomodachi is also his effort in what he was trained to do, according to his official Air Force job description for the 2T2X1 career field.

As an aerial porter, Airman Boeglin is someone who can "move cargo, passengers, or both on a moment's notice." His deployed unit ensures the safe and efficient upload and download of cargo and personnel on all organic and contracted aircraft to the base including those for Operation Tomodachi.

To do the heavy lifting, aerial porters like Airman Boeglin use specific material handling equipment such as forklifts capable of lifting upwards of 10,000 pounds of cargo and aircraft cargo loaders which are capable of holding pallets and cargo weighing up to 25,000 and 60,000 pounds. The loaders, when filled with cargo, are driven out to the aircraft, the deck is raised hydraulically, and powered rollers on the loader push the cargo on board the plane.

Each air transportation Airman with 730th AMS, including Airman Boeglin, has to maintain a myriad of skills and job knowledge. The job description states they must maintain mandatory job knowledge in passenger and cargo movement functions to include transport aircraft types, capabilities, and configuration. They must also know weight and balance factors, airlift transportation directives and documentation, cargo securing techniques, border clearance requirements, operation of materials handling and other types of loading equipment or devices, fleet service functions.

In directing air transportation activities, aerial porters like Airman Boeglin supplement policies and direct supervisory personnel to provide cargo and passenger loading and unloading services. He is trained to establish procedures for passenger and aircraft clearance through international border clearance agencies and to inspect airlift activities for compliance with directives, the job description states.

Airman Boeglin is also trained to verify eligibility of cargo and mail offered for airlift and to review passenger travel authorizations for validity and accuracy. He also ensures all cargo documentation, packaging, labeling and marking requirements, and all border clearance requirements have been met. He provides information on schedules, routes, air movement requirements, baggage limitations and local facilities for passengers and requisitions, stores and issues expendable and nonexpendable items for use on aircraft.

Aerial porters like Airman Boeglin can also check in passengers and process, schedule, transport and escort passengers to and from aircraft. They determine quantity and type of cargo to be loaded according to allowable aircraft cabin load and they check cargo against manifests, and annotate overage, shortage or damage.

According to its Air Force fact sheet, the 730th AMS is a tenant unit at Yokota AB and falls under the Air Mobility Command's 515 Air Mobility Operations Group. The 515th AMOG and the 730th AMS provides "forward-deployed command and control, air freight processing and passenger services" to Department of Defense aircraft executing national command authority-directed contingency, humanitarian relief and joint/combined exercise missions.

"Air Mobility Command's most forward-deployed units (like the 730th AMS) provide contingency and joint, unified, and combined exercise support to units throughout the Pacific theater of operations," the fact sheet states.

(374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs contributed to this report.)