Air Mobility 'OUTSTANDING' at Pacific crossroads

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Tom Czerwinski
  • Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii --  If you can talk about air travel having crossroads, then in the Pacific, Hickam Air Force Base is it, and one squadron here makes military airlift in PACAF's vast area of responsibility a first class operation. 

The 735th Air Mobility Squadron garnered top recognition by getting an 'OUTSTANDING' rating during a recent Logistics Standardization and Evaluation Program (LSEP) inspection that  concluded here  April 4. 

The 735th AMS logistics functions were rated overall "OUTSTANDING." Noteworthy professionalism, energy, pride, and mission dedication were clearly evident throughout the unit, according to Colonel Joseph Codispoti, LSEP team chief. "Our experienced team of evaluators took advantage of every opportunity to perform in-depth aircraft maintenance, aerial port and material management evaluations throughout the squadron," he said. 

"We received an outstanding rating across the board for all aspects of our operations that were evaluated during this mandatory inspection and that's not common," said Lieutenant Colonel Shirlene Ostrov, 735th AMS commander. 

Lt. Col. Ostrov recently assumed command of the 735 AMS in February, and is now responsible for a roster of 400 military and civilian personnel performing logistics operations as part of Air Mobility Command's en-route system to provide fixed and deployed maintenance, aerial port and command and control support to deployed AMC forces. 

"As the air mobility squadron here we run Team Hickam's air passenger terminal that handles approximately 3,000 aircraft in and out, 118,000 passengers and 20,000 tons of cargo per year," Ostrov said. "The pride and professionalism of all the airmen and civilians in the unit is what makes us successful." 

Before taking command of the 735th, Lt. Col. Ostrov was an aircraft maintenance squadron commander at a deployed location and is no stranger to the LSEP program.
"We went through an LSEP inspection at the 386th AEW, so I was familiar with LSEP," she said. "During this inspection they really dug into the nuts and bolts of our daily operation." 

During the week-long inspection there were 502 evaluations on the squadron. "The LSEP team strictly evaluates squadron members on the tasks they do, so it's not really in the preparation for the inspection, it's in the everyday execution of your job," said Ostrov. 

"We are proud of our 'Outstanding' rating because it shows a what a great partnership we have with the 15th Airlift Wing, and great support from our Travis AFB based chain-of-command at the 715th Air Mobility Operation Group and the 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force," she added.