AL DHAFRA AIR BASE, United Arab Emirates -- There is a trio of Airmen working behind the scenes to ensure every piece of cargo and every member of Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, has transportation in and out of the Area of Responsibility.
The 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron logistics planners, commonly referred to as “Loggies,” are responsible for the overall reception, onward movement, and redeployment processes for the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. Their mission is to redeploy all members and cargo in a timely manner.
“Our first responsibility is getting members home,” said Senior Master Sgt. Julie Dandaneau, 380th ELRS superintendent, logistics plans. “Another thing we do, is work to secure intra-theater travel for members throughout the AOR and tracking them using In-Transit Visibility. We also track movement between the continental United States and the AOR and push out the information to wing leadership and squadron leadership. We also play a role in moving personnel due to emergency leave and early releases.”
In order to complete these tasks, loggies work in concert with many other offices and agencies including Personnel Support for Contingency Operations, Traffic Management Office, Aerial Port, Ground Transportation, Host Nation Coordination Office, AFCENT Current Operations, AFCENT Movements, and Unit Transportation Representatives.
“We do the planning behind the scenes as far as getting everyone involved,” said Staff Sgt. Adrian Bituin, 380th ELRS logistics plans journeyman. “We coordinate with various units to coordinate the time and location for redeployment processes such as bag drags and outbound out-processing.”
Logistics planners monitor Time Phased Force Deployment Data, inbound and outbound flight schedules, and intra-theater movement requirements to develop transportation solutions to meet combatant commander requirements.
“I like working with a person from every single unit,” added Bituin. “There’s somebody from each squadron that I talk to every day about redeployment, intra-theater travel or replacement information.”
“Without us here it would create problems or extra steps in redeployment process,” said Bituin. “We help eliminate the confusion that might occur with the process.”
In addition to reception and redeployment operations, logistics planners are also responsible for managing support agreements along with Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreements. Senior Master Sgt. Dandaneau works with coalition partners to ensure every transaction for support between the countries is authorized, tracked, and reimbursed. Over the last six months, she has enabled 52 transactions worth more than $640K.
“As loggies, we handle support agreements between our units and outside agencies, as well as support agreements between host and tenant units,” added Dandaneau. “Our role is to coordinate the process and then collect all of the information.”
As members redeploy back to their home stations, they can rest assured knowing that these “loggies” are working behind the scenes to make this process as smooth as possible.
“Although we spend our day behind a computer and it's not as exciting as some other career fields, we are the magic behind the movements!” added Dandaneau.