Whether it’s getting equipment to its destination on time and packed properly or maintaining that equipment once it has arrived where it’s needed — the soldier that does the job from now on has been trained at Fort Lee.
Progress-Index Photo Sgt. 1st Class Mark Cresse, noncommissioned officer in charge, shows a set of railroad cars and track used by students. Transportation Corps soldiers training at Fort Lee have access to facilities including two plane fuselages and the rail line.
As part of the transformation of Fort Lee two new schools — the Army Transportation Center and School and the Army Ordnance Center and School — relocated most of their training to Fort Lee. That training includes the 88N — Transportation Management Coordinator — military occupational specialty. Sgt. 1st Class Mark Cresse, instructor and the noncommissioned officer in charge with the Deployment and Deployment Systems Department, said that the
88N course allows soldiers to learn the processes required for Airfield Departure and Arrival Control Group operations. “Making sure that the equipment is ready to deploy,” Cresse said. That work includes making sure that the correct paperwork is prepared for equipment or a shipment, checking how much equipment weighs and determining its center of balance. “If a load isn’t balanced it could cause the plane to experience problems in flight,” said Pvt. Amber White, one of the students training to become an 88N. “The Air Force won’t ship it until it’s right.” Pvt. Yamira Labrador, also training to become an 88N, said that one of the most interesting aspects of the training to this point for her has been working to determine the center of balance for a vehicle. “First you have to find out the weight,” said Labrador. While Cresse said that all military vehicles have a data plate indicating how much the vehicle should weigh, frequently vehicles are also loaded with gear if a unit is deploying. In addition to training soldiers on how to calculate the weight of loaded vehicles, Cresse said soldiers learn how to pack and load a pallet, how to drive vehicles onto railcars properly and the proper techniques for joint inspection of cargo. “This is much better than what we had at Fort Eustis,” Cresse said of part of the training environment at the multi-modal facility — an actual C-17 fuselage. “At Fort Eustis we had a wooden mock-up. It’s really important that we’re able to train the soldiers on what’s in the field.” In addition to the C-17 at the multi-modal site where soldiers train side-by-side with Airmen, there is Fort Lee: Then & Now
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