317th AW Airmen support missions downrange

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. David Owsianka
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

Airmen from the 317th Airlift Wing here deployed to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and Djibouti, Africa, March 7.

During the deployment, the Airmen will provide intratheater airlift support through airdrop and tactical airlift operations.

“Going on this deployment is important because we are providing imperative support for our fellow service members to successfully complete their missions within this region,” said Tech. Sgt. Cassandra Hancock, 39th AS Delta Flight chief. “The various training missions we complete here and during exercises at different bases have provided us with a good idea of what could see and may encounter while we are deployed.”

In preparation for the deployment, the 317th Operations Group generated training sorties similar to the missions that they will complete at their deployed location. The Airmen will provide supplies and equipment to the deployed service members while also transporting personnel to various locations throughout the region.

Airmen who have deployed before will use their experiences to help Airmen deploying for the first time.

“This is my third time deploying to the African theater, so I’ll be able to use my past experience in tactical airlift within this region to successfully complete our missions,” Silver said. “We try to put an experienced pilot and loadmaster with personnel who aren’t as knowledgeable so that the new Airmen can receive the necessary guidance and experience to be prepared for future missions.”

While home-based training helps prepare for deployments and other missions, the deployments themselves help the Airmen become familiar working with different types of equipment in different locations.

“We support missions that go to South America and other locations throughout the world, so the experience we receive during these deployments helps a lot when we return,” Hancock said. “Everywhere we go, we are going to see different types of cargo and loaders, so going on these deployments will help all of us gain more experience to become more efficient at what we do.”