Airmen: Building blocks of the Air Force

Published June 12, 2006
By Maj. Todd Cheney
39th Logistic Readiness Squadron

INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey (USAFENS) -- The men and women of Team Incirlik moved more than 3 million pounds of blankets, stoves, sleeping bags and tents to Pakistan in support of the earthquake relief effort.

In a related effort, the C-17 Globemaster III cargo hub here also eliminate the need to send more than 160 trucks on dangerous roads in Iraq each month to deliver supplies. On top of that, most of the support to Northern Iraq, such as food, water and fuel, is coordinated, procured and shipped by people at Incirlik.

These accomplishments are a result of Incirlik being a melting pot for multiple command relationships. The U.S. armed forces are becoming more dependent on each other as well as their coalition allies.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, U.S. European Command and U.S. Transportation Command are the organizations that provide the operational command structure.

“The 10th Tanker Base Command, 39th Air Base Wing, 385th Air Expeditionary Group, 728th Air Mobility Squadron and several other units residing at Incirlik Air Base provide the operational arm for the commands for combat and contingency operations,” said Col. “Tip” Stinnette, 39th ABW commander. “Together we produce incredible results.”

The three big commands, NATO, EUCOM and TRANSCOM provide operational command structure for Incirlik. NATO provides strong ties with the Turkish military, and at times Turkey hosts additional NATO allies in country to support contingency operations such as the Pakistan earthquake relief effort. EUCOM is the operational command structure over the USAFE which members of the 39th ABW are aligned under.

“TRANSCOM provides operational command over Air Mobility Command,” said Lt. Col. Chris Kulas, 728th AMS commander. “The 385th AEG and 728th AMS, as well as the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, align under TRANSCOM.”

SDDC, the executive agent for distribution for the Department of Defense, helps ensure people, parts and anything else needed -- including household goods -- are moved to the right place at the right time.

At the base level command structure, you see the merging of NATO, EUCOM and TRANSCOM; both military and civilian personnel.

“In fact, you hardly can tell we aren’t all part of the same command,” said Maj. Bryan Gillespie, 39th Security Forces Squadron commander. “The Turkish Air Force works hand-in-hand with us every day providing perimeter security and helping us coordinate with the Turkish general staff.”

39th Air Base Wing personnel provide base infrastructure, communications, logistics, maintenance, medical and several other types of support to both NATO operations and TRANSCOM operations.

Finally, the 385th AEG and 728th AMS ensure aircraft operations continue to meet the demands of downrange customers using a total force structure of Air National Guard, Reserve and active duty units.

“While we all have our own responsibilities, we are absolutely dependent on each other to be successful,” said Colonel Stinnette.

The greatest part of all this is how Team Incirlik supports coalition forces in the Middle East, with the primary customer being U.S. Central Command. Throughout the 1990s, Airmen here provided support to a myriad of aircraft and aircraft crews to enforce the northern no-fly zone over Iraq. Since then, Team Incirlik has transitioned to a different role.

In 2003, EUCOM moved a logistics sustainment cell to Incirlik to provide food, water, construction supplies and fuel.

“Since the logistics sustainment cell stood up, more than $3.8 billion worth of supplies were delivered because of the efforts of people right here,” said Capt. Cassandra Antwine, 39th LRS fuels flight commander.

Then, in June of 2005, with the cooperation of Turkey, the air cargo hub was stood up. The United Kingdom followed suit and stood up a detachment for crew swaps here.

“This was a cooperative effort which took all the command structures to work as a team,” said Captain Antwine.

“Overnight, we were able to begin delivering supplies directly to airfields that were getting their primary supplies from truck convoys,” said Colonel Stinnete.

During the past year, more than 50 percent of the supplies going to Operation Iraqi Freedom by air were transloaded right here at Incirlik. The cargo hub has saved countless lives in Iraq by taking 42 convoys off the roads each month.

One of the greatest successes this command trio accomplished recently was the Pakistan earthquake relief effort. Seven NATO countries converged onto Incirlik to set up an air bridge to Pakistan. Airmen from Turkey, the United Kingdom, Greece, France, Italy, Denmark and the U.S. literally worked hand-in-hand to manually build 996 pallets of supplies and load them on 130 C-130 Hercules and a few commercial wide-body aircraft missions.

“The men and women of Team Incirlik epitomize today’s integrated force working with multiple command and have the results to prove its success,” said Colonel Stinnette.