AUGUST 26, 2016, DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) – The 355th Logistics Readiness Squadron logistics planners, a shop of 14 Airmen, coordinate and direct personnel and cargo from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
They control and direct everything having to do with the process of deployments and exercises in order to support operations around the globe.
“We may be small, but we have a very big impact,” said Airman 1st Class Joice Dominguez, a 355th LRS logistics planner. “We’re the focal point. We just kind of put everybody together.”
This year the logistics planners have deployed approximately 1,000 personnel, 40 percent of them in July alone. Of that 40 percent, four units were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, furthering the Air Force’s mission to fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace.
The logistics planners have also coordinated four exercises, one of them being Green Flag-West, a joint exercise between the Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps and, administered by the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center.
Davis-Monthan AFB also supported five combatant commands, implementing their global effect.
“We support the fight,” said Staff Sgt. Brian Bober, the 355th LRS NCO in charge of deployments. “We deploy personnel to the areas of responsibility, we make sure the A-10 (Thunderbolt II) pilots and maintainers and all the support personnel get the proper training for real-world missions.”
A large focus of logistics planners is coordination between base agencies when generating priorities of supporting combat airpower and agile combat support.
The Airmen act as the nucleus of the cell, controlling how things happen by correlating with all agencies from unit deployment managers to air transportation in order to get deployments in motion and personnel out the door.