Al Asad A/DACG keeps Marines, supplies moving
AL ASAD, Iraq (May 24, 2007) -- AL ASAD, Iraq (May 24, 2007) – Need a lift? Chances are, the Marines at Al Asad’s Arrival/Departure Air Control Group can get you where you need to be.
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/97E83656A909E821852572EA00623A3B?opendocument
May 24, 2007; Submitted on: 05/29/2007 01:52:54 PM ; Story ID#: 2007529135254
By Cpl. Thomas J. Griffith, 2nd Marine Logistics Group
Day and night, flights are made by fixed-wing and rotary aircraft to get personnel and much needed supplies to even the most distant and isolated posts in Al Anbar Province.
Averaging 300 passengers on a daily basis, their mission is to get them all through the terminal and to their destination without delay.
The A/DACG’s patrons come from anywhere. Many are servicemembers coming from Kuwait. Some are just moving about the country and others are hopping to any of the forward operating bases in the area of operations.
“We get all sorts of servicemembers, (third country nationals), anyone who needs to move about the deployed zone, we accommodate them,” said 1st Lt. Kim Bonafede, officer-in-charge of the A/DACG, Transportation Support Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward).
The A/DACG Marines work 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week and will continue this duty rotation until their deployment ends.
“It can get pretty tiring,” said Staff Sgt. Joseph Diaz, staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the A/DACG.
Diaz, a Wilmington, N.C., native, said although the work schedule may wear down on the Marines, they know that the personnel and supplies they move need to get to servicemembers on the frontlines.
The Marines working here understand the importance of working longer shifts if necessary.
“What’s free time?” Lance Cpl. James C. Masden, a landing support specialist working at the A/DACG, asked rhetorically. “We’re always working, whether it’s moving passengers around or cleaning up the terminal. There’s never a dull moment.”
Masden, a Sedro-Woolley, Wash., native, said he knows the troops need to get back to the frontlines and takes pride in taking care of passengers during their stay at the terminal, which is his favorite part of the job.
“The people I get to work with are great. It’s good times,” he added.
With the increasing temperatures of the Iraqi summer and the flightline’s concrete trapping that heat, the services of A/DACG become more difficult to provide, but no less important.
Keeping this in mind, the Marines avoid faltering and continue to deliver.
“Anytime you’re moving gear and equipment, the end-state is that the people who need the gear get it,” said Bonafede, a Burke, Va., native. “Half the battle is getting it there in a timely fashion so they have the resources and supplies to accomplish the mission.
“We do what we can to accomplish the mission,” she added.