Welford Airmen prepare to ship 800 tons of munitions

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joel Mease
  • 501st Combat Support Wing Public Affairs
RAF WELFORD, United Kingdom --  Airmen at RAF Welford are preparing to ship more than 90,000 munitions and parts during the 2010 Turbo Containerized Ammunition Distribution System exercise to be completed by mid May.

Turbo CADS is an Air Force-wide exercise that tests the capability of units to transport large quantities of munitions via military shipping containers. The operation also gives the 420th Munitions Squadron an opportunity to move out expired stock and purge the supplies of both RAF Welford and RAF Lakenheath's cluster bomb units, said Capt. Kurt Umlauf, 420 MUNS.

"During the upcoming weeks we will pack more than 50 containers at RAF Welford and receive about 40 containers from RAF Lakenheath," Capt. Umlauf said. "In mid May we will then assist with transporting all of those containers out to a port where they'll be placed onto a vessel to be transported out of the country. Not only will this allow us to make room for new stock, but it adds to our storage capability for (U.S. Air Forces in Europe)."

In order to move roughly 800 tons of munitions and equipment, planning for the exercise started at the beginning of the year.

"We started planning by working backwards from when we knew the ship would leave the port, eventually giving us the date we knew we had to complete the work by," Capt Umlauf said. "From there we worked a plan to ensure we had the munitions in the right containers, and crafted the wood bracing for the containers ourselves, to now beginning the process of placing the weapons inside the containers."

Because of the complexity involved of moving such a large quantity of weapons, the safety and accuracy of how they are put in the containers are heightened.

"Each container was specially packaged for the weapons they are carrying," Capt. Umlauf said. "Every weapon has its own unique hazard so it's critical everything is correct. Not only does every weapon have a specific spot in each container, but each container has a specific position on the boat as well."

The exercise also affords Airmen at RAF Welford the opportunity to show the pride in their work when it comes to munitions.

"It's a great opportunity to demonstrate what we are trained to do here for a contingency nature," said Staff Sgt. Wallace Bagwell, 420 MUNS. "This exercise demonstrates what we are capable of, and it proves our worthiness as a world-class member of the Department of Defense."

While the exercise may take a lot of the Airmen's time, they don't believe all of the work done won't be for nothing.

"An exercise like this is so large that it requires a lot of time and work from everybody in our squadron, because there so many facets to the exercise," Sgt. Bagwell said. "We do it because we are proud to support the warfighter down range."