Keep it moving: JB Charleston facilitates passenger movement

Deploying service members board an aircraft in preparation to deploy through Joint Base Charleston Oct. 15, 2018 in support of the Naval Station Norfolk air terminal while their airfield under goes scheduled maintenance. Charleston served as one of several regional hubs temporarily assisting in the deployment of service members overseas in support of Norfolk. While JB Charleston is one of the busiest cargo hubs in the Air Force, it doesn’t commonly take on large passenger transportation.

Keep it moving: JB Charleston facilitates passenger movement

Senior Airman Vanessa Olinger, 437th Aerial Port Squadron passenger operations technician, scans bags as they move through an X-ray machine as part of a mission to deploy service members through Joint Base Charleston Oct. 15, 2018. The mission was in support of the Naval Station Norfolk air terminal while their airfield undergoes scheduled maintenance.

Keep it moving: JB Charleston facilitates passenger movement

Airman 1st Class Brett Petraitis, 437th Aerial Port Squadron passenger operations technician, waits to be handed the next bag as he stacks them for transportation to the Joint Base Charleston flightline Oct. 15, 2018. The task was part of a mission to deploy service members through Joint Base Charleston in support of the Naval Station Norfolk air terminal while their airfield under goes scheduled maintenance.

Keep it moving: JB Charleston facilitates passenger movement

As deplorers pack into the Joint Base Charleston Temporary Passenger Terminal, the passenger operations flight works to get them checked in, process their bags and get them through security checkpoints Oct. 15, 2018. Once all the passengers had been processed, the team, along with six volunteers, departed to the aircraft to move the baggage onto the airplane.

Keep it moving: JB Charleston facilitates passenger movement

Airman 1st Class Brett Petraitis, 437th Aerial Port Squadron passenger operations technician, stacks bags into a container to be transported to the Joint Base Charleston flightline Oct. 15, 2018. With JB Charleston’s primary passenger service center under construction, the passenger operations flight is operating from a smaller, temporary facility located off the flightline, which required additional transportation in order to get the passengers and their baggage to the aircraft. Overcoming that challenge required the support of the 628th Logistics Readiness Squadron.

Keep it moving: JB Charleston facilitates passenger movement

Airman 1st Class Ian Huffman, 437th Aerial Port Squadron passenger operations technician, moves baggage up a conveyer while loading luggage as part of a mission to deploy service members through Joint Base Charleston Oct. 15, 2018 in support of the Naval Station Norfolk air terminal while their airfield under goes scheduled maintenance. The team moved 29,541 pounds of baggage from the check in counter to the x-ray machine and then onto the aircraft.

Keep it moving: JB Charleston facilitates passenger movement

Passengers crowd the Joint Base Charleston Temporary Passenger Terminal as they wait to be processed as part of a mission to deploy service members through Joint Base Charleston Oct. 15, 2018, in support of the Naval Station Norfolk air terminal while their airfield undergoes scheduled maintenance. Typically, the JB Charleston passenger terminal doesn’t facilitate movements of this size, so in order to complete it, they scaled up the number of Airmen on shift during the movement.

Keep it moving: JB Charleston facilitates passenger movement

Staff Sgt. James Barker, 437th Aerial Port Squadron passenger operations supervisor, removes an unauthorized item from a bag at a security checkpoint Oct. 15, 2018. Charleston served as one of several regional hubs temporarily assisting in the deployment of service members overseas in support of Naval Station Norfolk air terminal. The passenger operations flight was responsible for processing 242 deplorers through the terminal in two missions over the course of three days. While JB Charleston is one of the busiest cargo hubs in the Air Force, it doesn’t commonly take on large passenger transportation missions.

Keep it moving: JB Charleston facilitates passenger movement

Airman 1st Class Malik Richard, 437th Aerial Port Squadron passenger operations technician, verifies a passenger’s credentials as they move through a security checkpoint as part of a mission to deploy service members through Joint Base Charleston Oct. 15, 2018. Charleston served as one of several regional hubs temporarily assisting in the deployment of service members overseas in support of Naval Station Norfolk air terminal while their airfield undergoes scheduled maintenance.

Keep it moving: JB Charleston facilitates passenger movement

Published Oct. 29, 2018
By Staff Sgt. William A. O’Brien
Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs

JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. --

Two hundred and forty-two deploying service members processed through the Joint Base Charleston Passenger Terminal enroute to their deployed locations Oct. 15 and 17, 2018, in support of the Naval Station Norfolk air terminal while their airfield undergoes scheduled maintenance.

Members of the 437th Aerial Port Squadron worked with U.S. Transportation Command, Norfolk and several units across the installation to coordinate and accomplish the large-scale movement.

“Due to planned runway closures at Naval Station Norfolk, U.S. Transportation Command diverted passenger missions to JB Charleston,” said Lt. Col. Karen Rupp, 437th APS commander. “We were selected to take on these missions due to our close proximity and ability to expeditiously move cargo and people to their destination. Despite the space limitations of our temporary passenger terminal, our Airmen accepted the challenge and did a phenomenal job facilitating this movement.”

Charleston served as one of several regional hubs temporarily assisting in the deployment of service members overseas, which normally aggregate at Norfolk.

“We’re accustomed to processing passengers for movement via military airlift. We don’t routinely support commercial passenger movements,” said Master Sgt. Kathryn Wood, 437th Aerial Port Squadron Passenger Operations Flight chief. “Airmen willingly banded together to form one big team to get the mission done.”

With JB Charleston’s Passenger Terminal under construction, the passenger operations flight had to overcome challenges of operating out of a smaller, temporary facility located away from the flightline. They partnered with the 628th Logistics Readiness Squadron Installation Deployment Officer to oversee this complex operation.

“This took the combined effort of both wings,” said 2nd Lt. Nicholas Maher, 437th Aerial Port Squadron Passenger Operations Flight commander. “In particular, the 628th LRS and IDO painstakingly coordinated with 47 units to gather relevant passenger details to allow the aerial port to accurately manifest personnel for airlift. Additionally, the LRS Vehicle Management Flight was instrumental in repairing the base’s sole baggage conveyor in less than 24 hours, mitigating any delays.”

As deploying service members arrived to the passenger terminal, the Passenger Operations Flight worked to check them in and screen them and their baggage to comply with Transportation Security Administration policy. Once all the passengers were processed, the team, along with six volunteers, departed to the aircraft to load the baggage. After manually loading the baggage into the aircraft’s lower compartment, the volunteers had a newfound appreciation for “Port Dawgs” and their efforts.

“The success of this mission was a true testament to the hard work and determination of our Airmen and their ability to seamlessly execute the mission safely,” said Rupp. “JB Charleston stands ready to support our nation’s needs for rapid global mobility, anytime, anywhere.”