|
8thMob@NoDeadlines.com Message from MSgt Chris Swinson, September, 2005 An Airlifter "finds his roots"/Mobility Operations in Iraq 2005 "Many of us used to sit around and speculate on what it must have been like, but the stories and the pictures on your page bring it home.Thank you! " |
Chris Swinson Subject: That Was Then...This Is Today 7 Sep 2005 ------------------------------------------ My hat is off to you and the 8th Aerial Port MOB troops who put it on the line (literally).and then chose to share your story. My name is Chris Swinson and I'm one of those who followed where you paved the way. I'm creeping up on my 20 year mark and my next promotion to SMSgt. I missed the days of the MAPS, but was lucky enough to be assigned to the 437th Aerial Port Mobility Flight at Charleston AFB, SC as a SSgt select in 1993 when AMC first stood up the Mobility Flight's. Off an on, I spent 7 of the next 12 years in the Mobility Flight..and LOVED every minute of it! I left Charleston this past August and now find myself as the Flight Chief for the 436th Aerial Port Mobility Flight at Dover AFB, DE. The experiences and the photos you've shared have provided something that has been lost through the years of MOB, MAPS, and APMF evolution.a strong tie to our Aerial Port Mobility Operations history.a sense of "knowing where we came from". As that young SSgt, I learned an oral history of the MOB units in Viet Nam through half-remembered tales from older aerial porters that were used to clarify and emphasize WHY we held Air Base Ground Defense classes.and why it was important to know how to operate in austere environments.and why we had to know our M16 front to back and sideways.and why we had to know about defensive fighting positions and fields of fire. Many of us, as we progressed through the ranks, have attempted to continue that oral tradition, but have never able to find actual accounts of early aerial port operations.until now. I've searched on line for years trying to find a web page like yours. I've barely begun to trace all the links. Halfway through the main page, I decided to write this letter to let you know that the proud tradition the Aerial Port MOBs established in Viet Nam has been carried on. Though, until recently, our experiences could hardly compare to the situations the MOB teams found themselves in. I know my last stint in Balad AB, Iraq was an eye opening experience.and the first time EVER that I've loaded planes under fire. Rockets and mortars fired from across the Tigris River fell like clockwork. It was intense enough for those of us who lived it.and I think the MOB team would've been proud of the aerial port performance. Balad has been dubbed the "airlift hub of Iraq" and many aerial port teams (Active duty, Reserve and Guard) have rotated through there since 2004 when I was there.they have ALL ROCKED! I was very interested to see your link to article about Balad and the comments about the 60K loaders and the C-17s. That was written shortly after I'd left Balad. But, although the equipment may have advanced and technology has found it's way to the front lines, I think you will find that the Aerial Port mentality hasn't changed."Get the Stuff To The Fight!". After years in the APMF "where the rubber meets the road" as a load team chief and instructing the basic "combat-capability" tenets and doctrine that drove it, I see from your web page where it all began. Many of us used to sit around and speculate on what it must have been like, but the stories and the pictures on your page bring it home.Thank you! My utmost respect and admiration, MSgt Chris Swinson, USAF |
||