One Million Pax and Counting

The forward deployed 386th Air Expeditionary Wing says it has moved one million passengers within Southwest Asia over the past two years—earning its motto of “boots on the ground” and sparing hazardous movements by road convoy. According to Lt. Col. Pollyanna Montgomery, 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron commander, the wing’s million pax accomplishment, if handled by convoy, would have required 22,300 45-passenger buses. And, she said, to move the 75,000 tons of cargo the unit airlifted would have required 10,000 trucks. When the first C-130 took off in October 2003, officials estimated pax counts at about 30,000 a month. Today, they say, the number has nearly doubled.