Training Overseas Enhances Logistics Skills, Readiness

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jennie Chamberlin
  • 927th Air Refueling Wing
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  Airmen of the 927th Logistics Readiness Squadron, an Air Force Reserve unit based at MacDill Air Force Base, honed their skills with members of the 374th Logistics Readiness Squadron, a unit based at Yokota Air Base, Japan.
 
The two-week training allowed members to work side-by-side with their active-duty counterparts at an overseas base, sharing missions they might not otherwise encounter at their home station.
 
For the members of the squadron, the training period called Annual Tour provides members the chance to enhance overall expertise in their career fields. This can be a challenge for the logistics career field, which spans more than nine Air Force Specialty codes and requires members to learn hundreds of tasks to perform their combat skill-sets proficiently.

Logistics requirements include fuels management, materials management, traffic management, vehicle operations, and logistics plans.  Those missions can greatly vary from place to place.

"Logistics base-by-base are all unique in nature, based on the different operations, and it's essential that our logistics members get exposure to and hands-on training in a variety of mission sets at bases abroad," said Maj. Bret Wedding, 927th Logistics Readiness Squadron commander. "We always strive to train our warriors in foreign arenas to test and strengthen their capabilities."

One of the unique tasks accomplished by the 927th LRS during their time in Japan was an inventory of an aircraft's spare parts kit from a plane returning from an operation in the Pacific. An aircraft spares kit contains the most commonly needed items for a plane's repair, and the accounting for all the parts is a mission that Airmen from the 927th LRS don't usually accomplish, said Tech. Sgt. Christopher Kramer, 927th LRS.

Kramer, supervisor of material management, lauded the opportunity for one of his members, a new Airman who just joined the Air Force Reserve, to gain such experience immediately after returning from his initial military training.

"It's great that right out of tech school he was submersed into this experience," said Kramer. "It's a part of the career field that we don't generally get to work with at our home station."

Most of all, traveling to different host units gives logistics Airmen a well-rounded experience when it comes to their on-the-job training, said Capt. Scott Manno, 927th LRS.

"It's really an all-inclusive experience," said Manno. "Our members train get to train with different active-duty units, and when we pack up, get on a plane and go, it's an opportunity to test our readiness and our families' readiness."

For a unit with so many different tasks, every training opportunity at home and abroad makes a huge difference in the development of its Airmen, said Wedding.

"Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics," said Wedding. "It is imperative that we remain technically combat-ready to meet every challenge."