MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan -- “Exercise! Exercise! Exercise!” sounds off across the base giant announcing system, initiating exercise Beverly Sunrise 17-07. Instantaneously, Airmen from all squadrons, like cogs in a machine, work to generate sorties responding to a simulated deployment, Sept. 15.
The pre-planned readiness exercise assessed the 35th Fighter Wing’s ability to meet deployment and wartime tasks. In the midst of it all, the 35th Logistics Readiness Squadron traffic management office drove the mission by providing transportation for equipment and gear for forward-deploying members.
“TMO's role in BS 17-07 ensured all cargo and personnel’s belongings were expedited in a timely manner, while meeting mission requirements needed down range,” said Staff Sgt. Jacob Singletary, a 35th LRS TMO inbound supervisor.
The flight properly prepared items like personal gear, classified materials and ammo caskets used to support pilots and maintainers for extended periods of time in their specified location.
“If cargo is mistreated, it may result in having problems in-flight,” Singletary said. “This could cause delay among maintenance Airmen who support pilots, ensuring they return safely.”
For this year’s exercise, TMO’s outbound and inbound sections handled approximately 45 items, weighing around 45,000 pounds total, in order to execute the simulated deployment.
“In the outbound section, we ship military cargo worldwide to fulfill the Air Forces’ needs,” Singletary explained. “Within our inbound section, we receive all cargo from other bases to meet the 35th FW’s stock requirements.”
The exercise was new for many and provided a challenging experience for Airmen who haven’t undergone a deployment before.
“It definitely challenged my resiliency,” said Airman 1st Class Dylan Sheneman, a 35th LRS TMO inbound cargo technician. “I felt pushed out of my comfort zone with challenging my knowledge and working longer hours in high-paced operations.”
Sheneman explained the TMO shop executed "free flow" operations, which meant they continuously in-processed items and stored them in their work area in order to ensure Team Misawa had everything they needed for various chalks—or mission loads— used to segregate cargo by their priority for BS 17-07.
“Working with the extended hours was definitely an adjustment,” Sheneman added. “As a result of the free-flow operations, we had to work hard and around-the-clock in order to accomplish the mission. Although it was challenging, I know the exercise benefited all of us in some way, shape or form.”
Sheneman said there wasn’t a lot of time to question what he should or shouldn’t do, but he knows the experience is worth the development of their skills.
“It’s a good time for our shop to see where our strengths and weaknesses are,” Sheneman said. “We have to get the tedious work done while maintaining that big picture view and keeping track of everything going on. We worked at a real-world pace and knew a lot of people were depending on us to get our job done fast and accurately, while being exposed to a healthy amount of pressure.”
Singletary said he was 100 percent confident all of their training showcased their preparedness to tackle anything thrown their way.
“We have a great team here in our cargo, household good and passenger travel sections and will continue to do great things,” Singletary reassured.
Whether loading 5,000 or 100,000 pounds, the 35th LRS TMO shop will always ensure to keep the mission moving.