Base operations keep cargo moving under cover of darkness

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Patrick Harrower
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  For Airmen at Travis to move the volume of cargo that they do, it is necessary for them to have operations running 24 hours a day. It wouldn't be safe however, to have the Airmen in the 60th Aerial Port Squadron work nonstop. This is where the night shift takes over.

"We typically move three times as many pallets on our shift than on the day shift," said Airman 1st Class Taylor Still, 60th APS porter. "It's not that dayshift doesn't pull their weight, it's because there are zero diversions in the cargo warehouse this time of night."

The pace in the port squadron is very high during the night shifts, which is beneficial to new Airmen that need the training, Still said.

"When you work here at night, you learn very fast how to build pallets and move cargo," said Senior Airman Mo Padilla, 60th APS porter. "You stay very busy, which also makes the shift go by quick."

Even when there may be low manning, the porters must keep up with the high ops tempo, but they always get the work done, Padilla said.

"We build the cargo then place it in the yard," he said. "After that, the Airmen from Ramp Operations pick it up and load it onto the plane. Because those other people depend on us, we make sure we always make it happen."

Working on the night shift does have unique effects on the Airmen's lifestyles, however. The isolation of working while the majority of the base is at home asleep instills more camaraderie in their workcenter, Still said.

"Obviously the lifestyle is different, but to have a bunch of great people in the same situation, causes us to really bond," he said. "We're like a family. We often leave from here to go out and eat breakfast together."

Even though the porters do a lot of the heavy lifting on their shift and the hours can interfere with daytime appointments and functions for them, they genuinely enjoy it, Padilla said.

"I don't mind working nights," he said. "I'm not really a morning person, so if I want to sleep in, it's no problem. It's just a pleasure to work with such a tight-knit crew."

We Own the Night is a new series highlighting the Travis Airmen that keep the base running throughout the night. If you work on a nightshift at Travis and would like to be featured in the series, contact Staff Sgt. Patrick Harrower at Patrick.Harrower@us.af.mil or call 424-2011.