Deployed aerial porters load American buses on Russian-made transport

Staff Sgt. Derrick Chandler, an air transportation Airman assigned to the 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Air Terminal Operations Center, secures a 44-passenger, 20,000-pound bus to a loader operations at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia on Dec. 30, 2009. The 380th ELRS and the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing support Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. Sergeant Chandler is deployed from the 89th Aerial Port Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and his hometown is East Daily, W.V. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol)

Deployed aerial porters load American buses on Russian-made transport

Staff Sgt. Derrick Chandler, an air transportation Airman assigned to the 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Air Terminal Operations Center, secures a 44-passenger, 20,000-pound bus to a loader operations at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia on Dec. 30, 2009. The 380th ELRS and the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing support Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. Sergeant Chandler is deployed from the 89th Aerial Port Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and his hometown is East Daily, W.V. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol)

Deployed aerial porters load American buses on Russian-made transport

Tech. Sgt. Andrew McMahon, noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Air Terminal Operations Center, prepares a loader for placement of a 20,000-pound bus during operations at a non-disclosed location in Southwest Asia on Dec. 30, 2009. Sergeant McMahon and five other air transportation Airmen loaded two buses on a Russian-built IL-76 transport which flew the buses to Afghanistan. Sergeant McMahon is deployed from the 89th Aerial Port Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and his hometown is Van Wert, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol)

Deployed aerial porters load American buses on Russian-made transport

A Russian-built IL-76 transport plane comes in for a landing at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia on Dec. 30, 2009. The planed was loaded by air transportation Airmen assigned to the 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Air Terminal Operations Center where they loaded two 44-passenger bus weighing more than 20,000 pounds each. The plane transported the buses to Afghanistan. The 380th ELRS and the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing support Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol)

Documenting the mission in Southwest Asia

Staff Sgt. Nathan D. Delgado, a broadcaster assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs Office, takes documentation video of operations at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia on Dec. 30, 2009. The 380th AEW supports Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. Sergeant Delgado is deployed from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, and his hometown is Blaine, Tenn. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol)

A different kind of bus driver

Tech. Sgt. Andrew McMahon, noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Air Terminal Operations Center, uses a loader to move a 20,000-pound bus in preparation to loading it on a Russian-built IL-76 transport at an non-disclosed location in Southwest Asia on Dec. 30, 2009. Sergeant McMahon and five other air transportation Airmen loaded two of the buses on the transport which flew the buses to Afghanistan. Sergeant McMahon is deployed from the 89th Aerial Port Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and his hometown is Van Wert, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol)