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Checkered Flag 22-1 is the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to mission-critical Airmen.
Raised in Illinois, Senior Airman Nicholas Maxey joined the U.S. Air Force August 2018 in search of the biggest and best opportunities in life.
Now he is a 773rd Logistics Readiness Squadron logistics planner assigned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Maxey traveled to Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, to serve as a redeployment liaison during Checkered Flag 22-1.
“We, as liaisons, take this opportunity to travel with the units as a support element to redeploy the units and their cargo back to home station or to a forward operating location,” said Maxey. “We can work through problems that [Airmen] may have here with as much communication and hands-on support as we can back at home station. We don’t have to deal with a time difference that could put a hold to fixing the problem at a moment’s notice.”
Although Maxey loves his job because he’s able to help Airmen have smooth transitions to and from their home station, Checkered Flag gives him the opportunity to do another part of the job he rarely sees -- loading cargo.
“Working with the cargo and the Air Transportation team to move and tie down cargo onto jets is awesome,” said Maxey. “This is more of a rewarding experience and the hands-on part of our job that we only get to do about 10 percent of the time, if that. I like it because it gets me away from sitting behind a desk and allows me to see the people I am working with.”
Maxey may be behind a computer screen most of the time, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t getting loads of experience during Checkered Flag.
“Exercises like these help us stay mission ready by giving us a clear picture of what our readiness looks like and where our strong and weak points are, so we can ensure full readiness and make adjustments as needed,” said Maxey. “If you have a solid line of communication with the units, everything else falls into place.”
| Date Taken: | 11.18.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 11.18.2021 14:12 |
| Story ID: | 409599 |
| Location: | FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 84 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Airman Maxey: Supporting Checkered Flag, by SSgt Anabel Del Valle, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
