Photo By Airman 1st Class Andre Medina | A U.S. Air Force Airman assigned to the 35th Fighter Wing marshals a forklift at...... read more read more
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The 374th Airlift Wing recently sent a compact deployment package of U.S. Air Force personnel and equipment to Misawa Air Base, March. 6, 2025.
The personnel gathered for this iteration consisted of several Air Force Specialty Codes, each with carefully-chosen roles for the mission including aircrew, security, communications, command post and aerial port, with joint service equipment inspectors also joining the mission.
“As a team, we were responsible for transporting a forklift and command-and-control equipment to Misawa,” said Master Sgt. Charles Bowman, 374th Security Forces Squadron flyaway security team lead, “During transit, as the team leader, my main responsibility was to maintain accountability. Once we were on the ground, I oversaw the completion of each AFSC’s task, including cargo inspection, refueling, cross-loading, communications set-up and security.”
The mission took place in the midst of exercise Beverly Morning 25-2, further demonstrating the capability through simulated emergency conditions.
“The air transportation specialists, or 2T2’s, in our team provide an agile solution for limited aerial port capability and hub-and-spoke operations,” said Lt. Col. Charles Coffman, 374th Logistics Readiness Squadron commander, “The Misawa iteration gave us the opportunity to practice a logistics concept where our 2T2’s assisted in rapidly self-generated cargo from Yokota to a simulated forward operating location.”
The mission demonstrates the 374 AW’s homegrown effort to promote Mobility Air Forces Agile Combat Employment capabilities under its mission. Col. Richard McElhaney, 374th Airlift Wing commander, has prior experience with the capability, having previously led the 36th Contingency Response Group.
“The goal is to send a team to the forward operating location, open the airfield and begin receiving aircraft,” said McElhaney, “This team stays on-site until all cargo is loaded or unloaded. They then return to base or continue to another forward location.”
The team operates similar to a Contingency Response Team, but falls under the mobility-command umbrella and does not have the same sustainability capabilities. However, with future investment, McElhaney hopes to expand the program into a fully sustainable CRT-equivalent.
“The key difference between the CRG and what we are doing now is sustainability,” said McElhaney, “Right now our team can operate for 72-hours with a hit-kit containing food, water and supplies.”
Looking ahead, McElhaney plans to expand the program by integrating personnel from the 36 CRG to Yokota Air Base in an alert capacity. This move aims to bolster contingency response capabilities without diverting crucial assets.
“If we combine this capability with the CRG expertise, we can create a cost-effective humanitarian assistance and contingency response capability for PACAF for little-to-no cost,” he concluded.
| Date Taken: | 03.21.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.20.2025 22:00 |
| Story ID: | 493405 |
| Location: | YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO, JP |
| Web Views: | 105 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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