Cargo, passenger capacity upped at Bagram

[unhappycamper]

Cargo, passenger capacity upped at Bagram
Staff report
Posted : Friday Feb 6, 2009 12:21:48 EST

Anticipating a surge of Army troops and supplies going into Afghanistan, the Air Force is boosting its cargo and passenger capacity at Bagram Airfield, the largest military airport in the landlocked nation.

A sign of the increase was establishing the 455th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron in late January. Before the squadron stood up, a flight-level unit in the logistics readiness squadron handled aerial port operations.

“Our squadron separated from the logistic readiness squadron so that we could focus entirely on aerial port operations, increase our throughput capacity and maximize the efficiency of our processes and capabilities here,” squadron commander Lt. Col. Frank Flores, deployed from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., said in an Air Force statement.

The squadron of about 100 active duty, Reserve, Air Guard, Defense Department civilians and contractors handles everything from aircraft load planning and cargo palletizing to air terminal operations and passenger service.

More than 25,000 passengers and 12,000 tons of cargo passed through Bagram in January — more than a 50 percent increase from a year before, said Maj. James Dickey, operations officer for the 455th and deployed from Carswell Field, Texas.


Article at: http://airforcetimes.com/news/2009/02/airforce_aerial_port_bagram_020609W/%2e