TMO Airman helps move Kadena along

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Tara A. Williamson
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Whether it's obtaining orders or simulating a deployment, chances are many Team Kadena members have been helped by Senior Airman Cristofer Mercado, 18th Logistics Readiness Squadron passenger travel clerk, at one time or another.

"Right now, my main job is passenger travel," he said as he prepared to give a briefing to a group of simulated deployers. "I enjoy helping out people especially making sure that people get what they want and getting them to where they want."

The airman said his main duties are preparing orders and travel arrangements for deployments and medical evacuations. He handles real-world deployments and deployments for exercises.

"It's interesting and high-paced," he said. "I've pretty much sent people all over the world. I do have to say my favorite was a member going to Djibouti, Africa pronounced it 'G-Booty'. I couldn't stop laughing."

During exercises, TMO customer service is minimally manned. There is at least one military representative and one civilian, versus the three military members usually present.

"We usually handle anywhere from 150-200 customers a day," Mercado said, "so when the exercises kick off it's a little bit hectic and it's hard to take care of everybody."

Of course, being stationed at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey and before that attending technical school at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, the airman noticed variations in how different bases operate.

"Incirlik AB was defiantly a great experience and I am glad that I got the opportunity to be there and to meet such great people," he stated. "I can't really compare [Incirlik to Kadena] because I enjoy both; however, I was a lot less busy in Incirlik than I am here in Kadena."

Despite the hectic nature of TMO, after his third anniversary in the Air Force, Mercado still enjoys each day.

"I actually love my job," Mercado said. "I joined the Air Force because it was actually a dream I had when I was a little kid. It didn't matter what I did in the Air Force. Everybody always asked me if I wanted to be a pilot; I didn't want to be a pilot, I just wanted to be in the Air Force."

Wanting to be a kindergarten teacher, perhaps even an officer someday, the Senior Airman knows this personable job is good training for his future.

"The questions I get asked on a daily basis are really crazy," he said, "especially with pets. It is a lot of fun, though. I love helping people, so it's a good job for me."
Though most of his time is spent behind the service counter, there are many parts to his job that most don't see.

"I don't think people understand that it's very complicated when we have the amount of people coming in on a daily basis," he said. "We do a lot of paperwork; we have to contact a lot of the agents. We work side-by-side with the Commercial Travel Office and they help us out and we help them out constantly with people's entitlements.

"We have to make each customer feel like they're the only one," stated the Senior Airman from San Diego, Calif. "We deal with every single person on this base, especially with deployments. We deal with every single person. Any type of travel that you're doing, we're pretty much there; temporary duties, permanent change of station, [to name a couple]."

But, remembering so many faces is a task that can be difficult on a base the size of Kadena with a population of nearly 18,000 Status of Forces Agreement personnel.

"Kadena is very high-paced," Mercado said. "The deployment tempo here is very high so we're constantly getting a fluctuation of people coming in and out and we're constantly having to arrange their travel. The volume of people we see is big. I like it, but it's very stressful at times."

Fortunately for the Senior Airman, life is not all work and no play. After living on Okinawa for 14 months, he has had many chances to experience the Japanese culture.

"I love [Okinawa], it's a beautiful island," he said. "There are a lot of things to do; I get out as much as possible. [In] the off time that I do get I like to go around enjoying the culture and the food here. I love it."