89th AS loadmasters train ANG, Army Reserve personnel

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Frank Oliver
  • 445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
TOLEDO, Ohio --  With just a 23-minute flight from Dayton, Ohio to Toledo, members of the 445th Airlift Wing's 89th Airlift Squadron forged a great working relationship with the units stationed at and visiting Toledo Express Airport, home of the 180th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard.

The road show took place Sept. 5-7 and gave the 89th a chance to familiarize members of the Air National Guard and Army Reserve with the C-17A and how to properly load the aircraft.

Sixteen loadmasters from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio made the trip to pass on knowledge to people who have never loaded the giant Globemaster III aircraft.

"I picked loads that people normally don't see. We loaded a couple of five tons trucks and a mobile command center, which we don't see at all when we are on the road. We wanted them to see everything this aircraft is capable of doing," said Master Sgt. Craig Essert, 89 AS standardization and evaluation loadmaster.

Essert said 51 people from the other units got an opportunity to fly on the aircraft and he received great feedback concerning the flight.

Tech. Sgt. Kelly Earehart, also a loadmaster with the 89th said, "It's nice just to get out with the Guard and let them see our airplane and see what we do, but it's also nice to get our new guys out and get them some training on a UTA [unit training assembly] weekend."

Three Airmen cross-training into the loadmaster career field benefitted from the weekend's training and were given a chance to see what the job is all about, said Earehart.

At the conclusion of the training, members of the 180th Fighter Wing expressed an interest in making this an annual training event for all five Air National Guard units in the state of Ohio. All in attendance from Wright-Patterson AFB agreed that it was a good idea and look forward to future training events.