RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Throughout the day, a plethora of aircraft can be seen flying in and out, some carrying cargo, some carrying passengers. With the massive amount of cargo and passenger movements through the Ramstein flightline, the 721st Aerial Port Squadron Air Terminal Operations Center flight is responsible for the coordination of all of it.
ATOC consolidates and coordinates with different sections and gives guidance so everything flows smoothly in order to get planes off the ground on time with the correct cargo.
“ATOC is the focal point for the aerial port,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Osinski, 721st APS ATOC information controller. “We deal with the cargo and passengers coming in and going out by aircraft. We talk to ramp services to tell them what cargo to put on the plane, and we talk to the passenger terminal, to tell them how many passengers are coming in or going out. Whenever anyone has questions, they usually call ATOC, and if we do not know the answer, we know who to call.”
Coordination for each aircraft is different, as some cargo has different handling instructions, and classifications. Information for each mission is coordinated then ultimately flows through ATOC for action.
“We work with higher commands, headquarters, and the tanker airlift control center, and they tell us what aircraft are coming in, and if the aircraft has special requirements,” said Osinski. “We then take the information, process it, and disseminate it to different sections of the aerial port.”
ATOC handles a large portion of the support functions that passenger don’t see. The ATOC flight is responsible for documenting a sequence of events for each individual aircraft.
“The ramp agent will go out to the aircraft and get the paperwork for the incoming cargo and hand the aircraft representative the outgoing package, which includes information like the cargo being loaded and if anything is hazardous cargo,” said Staff Sgt. Erik Davis, 721st APS ATOC information controller. “The ramp agent also fixes all of the issues that can arise at the aircraft that isn’t maintenance,”
Members from the ATOC flight are all air transportation specialist and can help with any section.
“We look at the bigger picture of what is going,” said Davis “If cargo has a massive movement, they can pull from other sections depending on the urgency of the mission and availability of people. They can ask PAX, or ramp services to have people come over. Whenever we (ATOC) have the manning, we even send people to help.”
While ATOC Airmen are versatile, there are some parts of the mission that can only be done by members of the flight.
“There was a Special Forces member who was on emergency leave to go see his wife, who just had a stroke,” said Osinski. “He got in at 8 a.m., and I worked with the passenger terminal, to get him on a plane by 9 a.m. We held the plane for some time with its engines on, to get him onto the plane and get him to his wife.”
ATOC’s mission is an important to the mission here in Germany and on the frontlines.
“We make everything happen on the flightline.” said Osinski. “Everything that needs to go downrange to help with the fight, has to come through the aerial port. And it is ATOC’s job to ensure those planes get out on time and with the correct cargo.”