Office-on-wheels redeploys from 332nd AEW

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Melanie Holochwost
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  When the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing moved from Balad Air Base, Iraq to an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, most personnel went from having an abundant amount of resources to a very limited supply.

Fortunately for the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron, the Mississippi Air National Guard sent them a fully functional, portable office. It was delivered to the airfield management team shortly after its arrival.

This is the first time in six years this trailer has been deployed, according to Lt. Col. Paul Carlton, 332 EOSS director of operations, deployed from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and a native of San Antonio, Texas.

"Five of these trailers were conceptualized and built with deployable capability," he said. "It filled a critical gap in our airfield capabilities and performed admirably."

Carlton said the airfield management team used the trailer to interface with the host nation and to get operations up and running.

"The trailer provides an instant internet-capable platform that can reach back to the United States," he said. "It effectively provided us with instant airfield management capability and references. It also increased our ability to receive C-130s that were moving the early pieces of the base from Balad to here."

According to Tech. Sgt. Kristin Schott, 332 EOSS airfield manager deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., the trailer was a lifesaver.

"Without the trailer, we wouldn't have been as prepared to support the mission," she said. "It was built to accommodate areas with limited power, office space and supplies--which was the exact situation we faced."

Schott said she was surprised by how well the trailer was packaged and the amount of supplies that came with it.

"It's really small, but somehow it came with everything we needed," she said. "It had tables that folded down into desks, folding chairs, computers, printers, radios, paper and water. It even came with a coffee pot and filters."

Since the trailer has completed its mission here, it will be loaded onto a C-17 Globemaster III and shipped back to the United States, Schott said.

"Only two people could work together comfortably in the trailer, so our team was split up," she said. "Now, we have a fully functional tent that can support our entire team so we don't need it anymore."

Schott said the office-on-wheels is heading back to Mississippi so it can be available for another team to use in a different location.