FSS Airmen play major role in Wing mission

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Gustavo Gonzalez
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  As part of the 8th Fighter Wing's threefold mission, accepting follow-on forces is in part accomplished by the Airmen assigned to the wing's Personnel Deployment and Readiness Function. 

In a wartime situation, combat operations are not only executed by the Airmen regularly assigned, but also by additional personnel and aircraft flown in from stateside bases. On arrival, the Airmen's first stop is the PDRF. Kunsan Airmen practiced this capability during the Peninsula-Wide Operational Readiness Exercise Beverly Bulldog 09-01 

Made up of representatives from the 8th Force Support Squadron, 8th Fighter Wing Staff Judge Advocate's Office, 8th Comptroller Squadron, 8th Medical Group Public Health, 8th Fighter Wing Chapel and Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the PDRF ensures all the Airmen are inprocessed correctly and accounted for before heading to their temporary units here at Kunsan or other locations on the peninsula. 

"We receive and deploy when necessary, sending personnel to support the rest of the peninsula," said Master Sgt. Lee Ishikawa, 8th FSS. "Once we get all the forces coming in from the States or from whatever base they're coming from, our job is to make sure we account for all of them." 

After the ORE kicked off, the PDRF stood up, processing approximately 600 inbound Airmen. 

"During the exercise, and during a real war, what we basically do is take care of everyone that comes in," said Sergeant Ishikawa. "Accountability is a personnelist's main purpose.
"We have to make sure that we take care of the Airmen that are here, and also Airmen that come in. Once war actually breaks out here, we have to make sure we can sustain the fight. We have to make sure the planes get here, the planes get off the ground, we have the maintainers, we have the pilots, operators and all the people coming in and backing them up." 

A key part of maintaining accountability is ensuring the right Airman gets to the right place. 

"We check the members' eligibility which includes SGLI [Servicemembers Group Life Insurance], dog tags and ID cards, as well as their passports and visas" said Senior Airman Shantel Langston, 8th FSS. 

"Once we account for all of them we make sure they get to their right units," added Sergeant Ishikawa. "Then we make sure all the UDMs [Unit Deployment Managers] know who is coming in and make sure we get their right people to the right units so we can actually fight the war. 

According to Sergeant Ishikawa and Airman Langston, one of the biggest benefits of a Kunsan exercise is the realism which enables them to better perform their duties.
"Playing for real and having chem. [chemical protection] gear on, the gas mask on and going through all the scenarios of fighting a war, adds some realism to it," said Sergeant Ishikawa. 

"It is different [compared to other] exercises I've been in," added Airman Langston, "we practice a lot harder which is helpful." 

"Of course, now that we're getting ready for the ORI, the more exercises we do, the more realism we add to it will just make us that much prepared when the actual ORI hits," concluded Sergeant Ishikawa.