LRS better serves deployers, fixes kinks in PDF line

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Malissa Armstrong
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  The Personnel Deployment Function line can be long, busy and sometimes confusing.

The 366th Logistics Readiness Squadron noticed this during past exercises and decided there needed to be a change. During an internal exercise meant to enhance the deployment process, LRS ironed out the kinks of the PDF line.

“Beforehand, the personnel processing entered in through the service desks at the Individual Protective Equipment (IPE) section of the building,” said Airman 1st Class Brenden Summers, 366th LRS logistics planner. “[They] were then led through a series of lines that intersect each other and caused a great deal of confusion and congestion.”

Summers explained the new process reduced the confusion by creating a single line that no longer required members to backtrack over several other lines and clearly outlined the next step in the line.

“This process has cut two to three and a half hours average from our processing time and has added a detailed tracking communication between the Deployment Control Center, Marshaling Team, Joint Inspectors, and Manifest Team,” said Staff Sgt. Paul Ayala Ramos, 366th LRS NCO-in charge of inbound cargo operations.

This process not only helps keep the process in order, but better helps train and guide deploying Airmen.

“In the past procedures were not clear, and seemed repetitive,” Ramos said. “This puts them at ease, and lets them know where they stand in the process; allowing them to finish ahead of time, with resiliency.”

The training doesn’t end here though. LRS plans on finding new and better ways to improve the process.

“In the future, more internal exercises between the units such as this one are anticipated to even further train the individuals involved in the deployment function,” Ramos said.