Traffic management office helps drive Mildenhall mission

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Joseph Barron
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing

The 100th Logistics Readiness Squadron Traffic Management Office at RAF Mildenhall, England, is responsible for receiving and shipping out equipment and personnel necessary for the completion of the mission.

The inbound and outbound cargo section of the traffic management office handles all incoming and outgoing shipments to base, including aircraft parts and other mission-essential assets.

“We can in-process anything from small nuts and bolts, to aircraft doors, fuel bladders, and even whole aircraft engines,” said Staff Sgt. Eric Bortz, 100th LRS inbound cargo section supervisor. “Other items we receive include controlled cryptographic items, confidential pieces, and even night-vision goggles.”

Once shipments are received, TMO Airmen unload and sort materials before they are distributed to different squadrons around base.

“After we receive the materials, our TMO personnel will check them in through our Cargo Movement Operations System,” said Tech. Sgt. Keith Washington, 100th LRS NCO-in-charge of receiving operations. “If it’s an asset that’s going into stock to support a weapon system assigned here, it will get separated and distributed to the aircraft parts store. If it’s going to an end user for a certain job, it will go directly to our decentralized support section.”

The TMO Airmen not only receive shipments; they also send out the equipment Airmen need to succeed on deployments.

“In addition to receiving normal cargo assets, we do a lot of deployment operations,” Bortz said. “Our office takes care of anything that needs to be sent in support of the mission; we’re a critical part in the movement of cargo for deploying and redeploying units.”

The passenger travel section of TMO also facilitates Airmen in accomplishing the mission in deployed environments. They organize travel for members heading downrange and coordinate the transportation of weapons members may carry while traveling to their deployment.

“We oversee all of the deployments within the U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa area. We have members coming from inside or out of the U.K. area going to various U.S Central Command locations,” said Staff Sgt. Quincy Petty, 100th LRS passenger travel supervisor. “We’re the ones in charge of getting members to those locations with or without a weapon and either by themselves or in a group movement.”

The traffic management office plays an essential role in mission readiness at RAF Mildenhall, ensuring Airmen have the equipment they need to execute the mission.

“The impact of TMO exceeds beyond just packing a box or opening a box,” Bortz said. “It could be as little as receiving an oil pump, or whatever asset is broken for the aircraft. But that oil pump could allow that aircraft to get fixed that night and be up in the sky the next day refueling F-15s.”