Published On: 03.24.23 | 

By: Senior Airman Austin Jackson / 908th Airlift Wing

25th Aerial Port Squadron demonstrates readiness at Alabama’s Maxwell Air Force Base

25 APS Trains on Sidebody Aircraft

The 349th Air Mobility Wing’s 70th Air Refueling Squadron, at Travis Air Force Base, California, prepares to receive cargo during 25th Aerial Port Squadron’s unit training assembly March 11, 2023, at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. This training was part of a multi-day exercise for member of 25 APS to learn to load and unload aircraft from the side. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Austin Jackson)

The 908th Airlift Wing’s 25th Aerial Port Squadron at Alabama’s Maxwell Air Force Base has been creating new ways to train its airmen over the past year. From procuring equipment to entire aircraft, 25 APS is busy ensuring its airmen have the tools necessary for the training and development they need to stay mission-ready.

25th Aerial Port Squadron demonstrates readiness from Alabama News Center on Vimeo.

Backstory

As the mission of the 908 AW transitions from C-130H tactical airlift to MH-139A flight training, the mission of the 25 APS remains relatively the same: managing and moving cargo and passengers transported on aircraft.

They make this possible by preparing air cargo and load plans, loading equipment, preparing the rigging for airdrops and much more. But, the last of the 908th’s C-130H aircraft departed the wing in April 2022, which means they don’t have aircraft readily available to train and work with.

Innovation

In June 2022, 25 APS leadership sprang into action, coordinating with the 305th Aerial Port Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, to receive firsthand mission experience through a two-week immersion with their active-duty counterparts. During this training, they focused on several sections of the aerial port career field, including passenger, airfreight and pallet handling.

“It’s been helpful to get hands-on training with different vehicles and facilities,” said Airman 1st Class Angela Haynes, 25 APS air transportation specialist. “We normally wouldn’t have access to these vehicles or even a passenger terminal at our home station, so being here is giving us valuable training. It’s different from reading about it in our career development courses.”

In seeing the value of tactile training, 25 APS leadership contacted the 76th Aerial Port Squadron, assigned to the 910th Airlift Wing, at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, to obtain a high-line dock no longer in use.

“A high-line dock is a piece of equipment simulating rolling pallets onto the back/inside of aircraft such as a C-5, C-17 or C-130,” said Senior Master Sgt. Gary Ramey, assistant aerial port manager. “We can fit four pallets instead of just one or two that we did with a next generation small loader and forklift. Having this piece of equipment gives us increased flexibility in building, prepping, and loading or unloading multiple pallets.”

25th Aerial Port Squadron trains with highline dock from Ohio from Alabama News Center on Vimeo.

This equipment gives 25 APS the ability to have hands-on training without having immediate access to planes – training that Master Sgt. Heath Ezelle, 25 APS operations training manager, says is invaluable in a deployed environment.

“When we’re able to provide this kind of training, where they get their hands on it and actually, physically, do it and go through the motions of it,” Ezelle said, “it helps when they get there (down range) not to have such a steep learning curve.”

Developing multi-capable airmen

But 25 APS did not stop at just getting new equipment for training. They partnered with the 349th Air Mobility Wing from Travis Air Force Base, California, to bring in various aircraft types to provide real-world experiences to their airmen. A C-5M Super Galaxy, the largest plane in the U.S. Air Force, flew on to Maxwell Air Force Base for the 908 AW’s January Unit Training Assembly (UTA). The 25 APS practiced active on-loading and off-loading equipment to simulate inbound, outbound and in-transit airlift missions. At the same time, they practiced inspecting, weighing and measuring vehicles and support equipment for aircraft loading.

25th Aerial Port Squadron trains with the 312th Airlift Squadron and 60th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron from Alabama News Center on Vimeo.

During the March UTA, 349 AMW’s 70th Air Refueling Squadron sent a KC-10 Extender tanker aircraft for 25 APS to practice loading and off-loading cargo from the side of an aircraft, which requires different procedures. This training ensures that 25 APS members have practice loading and off-loading cargo from front, back or side loading aircraft.

“That was the first time I’ve ever loaded from the side body of an aircraft,” said Senior Airman Chad North, 25 APS air transportation specialist. “Every time you get that hands-on experience, it makes it easier. The next time, you learn from your mistakes, and you do better and do it safer.”

This partnership with other wings is something that Ezelle says sets 25 APS apart from other Aerial Port Squadrons in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command. These training opportunities, combined with the 908th’s annual requirements like influenza vaccinations and CPR classes, working in tandem with the wing’s mission, vision and priorities realignment, help develop multi-capable Airmen in 25 APS and across the wing.

“We are utilizing other bases and other wings to bring aircraft here to help us get training that we normally would not get,” he said. “I think that puts us above a lot of other Reserve units as far as being prepared … we’ve proven time and time again that when we deploy, we are mission-ready.”