Army builds new air terminal in Kuwait
Army News Service
Release Date: 1/13/2004
By Staff Sgt. Nate Orme
ALI AL SALEM AIR FORCE BASE, Kuwait (Army News Service, Jan. 8, 2004)-The Army is operating a new air passenger terminal here, with the goal of transporting hundreds of Soldiers daily to destinations within the Operation Iraqi Freedom theater.
"Soldiers will be traveling by intra-theater airplane in and out of Iraq," said Maj. Vivian Gaz, officer-in-charge of the 319th Movement Control Team, an Army Reserve unit from Dover, Del. The unit is responsible for operations at the terminal, called a "node" in transportation operations parlance.
The terminal is composed of several tents that serve as passenger holding areas, and a parking lot with a turn-around area for buses dropping off and picking up passengers.
"The plan is for Soldiers to only be here about three hours, tops," said Gaz. "We will have MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) and water here. Soldiers should have their last hot meal at their departing camps."
To keep the operation as efficient as possible, plans are to use only one type of tactical aircraft, each carrying the same number of passengers and two baggage pallets, said Gaz.
The operation eases some of the congestion at the military APOD (airport point of debarkation) in Kuwait. Most travel though the new terminal will be work related, meaning rest and recuperation travel will not be processed here. Four airfields in Iraq will be serviced-Baghdad International Airport, Balad, Mosul and Al Asad.
The terminal, dubbed "Area 51" after the locale in Nevada that UFO fantasists theorize is an extraterrestrial stomping ground, started operations in December, said Gaz. It's manned by a small permanent party of Army soldiers stationed at the terminal.
(Editor's note: Staff Sgt. Nate Orme is the public affairs NCO for the 3rd Personnel Command.)
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