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Gen. Mike Minihan, Commander of Air Mobility Command, visits the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station June 8, 2024.

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Airmen work to get cargo ready, deploy

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andrew Caya
  • 914th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, N.Y. --  In order to ensure a successful and smooth deployment process for the Airmen going down range, members of the 914th Airlift Wing need to work quickly and effectively.

Mr. Jon Wozniak, a Satellite Services Inc. contractor here, at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station was assisting building cargo pallets for the current deployment of 914th Airlift Wing Airmen from NFARS to an undisclosed location in southwest Asia.

Mr. Wozniak touched on how his experienced staff is working hard in response to the current high operations tempo this week at the installation.

"We've been doing this for about ten years now;" said Mr. Wozniak. "We've had multiple deployments through that time and this is nothing new for the 914th Airlift Wing."

Members from different sections on base also lent a hand to assist in palletizing the cargo; one of those Airmen was Tech Sgt. William Day of the 914th Logistics Readiness Squadron.

Sergeant Day said that he was ensuring that everything was going well from a logistics stand point.

Sergeant Day also helped palletize the cargo. Each pallet can weight anywhere from 2,500 to 4,000 pounds and depending on the dimensions, can take anywhere from one to two hours to build and secure.

Palletizing cargo is very important for a few reasons; the most important of which, is safety. Palletizing the cargos secures the items in the aircraft. If the aircraft is performing combat maneuvers while in flight, the cargo needs to be secure so it does not negatively affect the aircraft or jeopardize the safety of the aircrew. Another example of why palletizing cargo is important is in case the crew needs to jettison the cargo for any reason, the palletized cargo makes it easier and quicker to do so.

Members of the 914th Airlift Wing will be deployed for approximately four months providing tactical airlift support to overseas contingency operations.