Getting the Cargo Downrange

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jeremy McGuffin
  • 18 Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Just like Airmen, equipment on aircraft heading downrange must go through processing lines and be properly documented and prepared. The 733rd Air Mobility Squadron joint inspection team is there to ensure this happens.

Along with 18th Logistics Readiness Squadron's Cargo Deployment Facility, the 733rd AMS joint inspection team handled more than 200 pallets of equipment as it was processed, weighed, documented and inspected for errors during a recent exercise at Kadena.

"Any mistakes we find on the palettes are quickly taken care of by that unit's deployment team," said Staff Sgt. Roger Ward, 733rd AMS joint inspection team member. "These exercises help us by informing the Kadena team what's wrong with their palette so when the time comes for them to deploy they have a better idea of what they need to do."

The purpose of the joint inspection team is as its name implies - to ensure cargo meets requirements before deploying. Along with the inspector is the unit's palette team. As the inspector walks through and finds discrepancies, he can point it out to the palette team and they fix it right away. At the same time the inspector tells the units how they can avoid problems in the future that could possibly slow down their deployment.

"When looking over each palette, we go by a checklist to stay consistent," said Staff Sgt. Jesse Martin, 733rd AMS JI team member. "Each aircraft has strict guidelines we have to follow and if a palette is not documented correctly for weight or size for instance, it can cause major problems when trying to put it into the aircraft."

By the time the cargo is being inspected by the 733rd AMS JI team, it has already been through a rigorous inspection by the CDF. Double and triple paperwork checks, dimensions, weight distributions, proper use of tie downs and netting, all these checks are conducted so when the handoff is made to the 733rd AMS, they can take the palette and load it onto the aircraft.

"Our goal is to make sure that we receive, process and deploy all the cargo that comes through the CDF safely and correctly and that it gets to it's destination on time," said Capt. Shellece Hankerson, CDF flight commander. "Working together with the 733rd helps us streamline our process so the cargo can get to its destination faster."

The 733rd AMS JI team is the largest in the Pacific, conducting more than 405 inspections in 2006 and on track to surpass that number this year.