Air Force sergeant's service highlights joint base partnership

by Air Force sergeant service highlights joint base partnership
JBER Public Affairs

12/19/2013 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- For most Air Force Airmen, the opportunities to be recognized by another service branch are few and far between.

On Nov. 24, Air Force Staff Sgt. Todd Da Giau, an aircraft support supervisor with the 732d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, received this honor in the form of a coining ceremony by Army Col. Matthew McFarlane, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division commander.

Da Giau played a critical role in the preparation of loading a backup C-17 Globemaster III when a primary aircraft developed a fuel cell problem an hour prior to its scheduled departure.

This past July, 400 paratroopers from the 4-25th IBCT crossed the ocean as part of the biennial joint Australia-United States military exercise Talisman Saber and then launched themselves into the Australia Outback. It was a capabilities, which would have been severely delayed if it were not for the quick coordination of Da Giau.

"Jumping the airborne task force into Australia at the planned time on target was critical to the entire exercise of more than 30,000 Australian, U.S. and other participating allied service members," McFarlane said.

The purpose of the exercise is to practice with regional partners and demonstrate the reach and combat capabilities of joint military cooperation, in order to improve combat readiness and interoperability.

This required a huge commitment of resources from the Air Force, McFarlane said. The exercise required five C-17s and five aerial refueling aircraft to transport the Soldiers. The Air Force planning team incorporated an additional C-17 and refueling aircraft in case there were maintenance problems.

"While we had a spare C-17, we did not think it would be able to take off on time due to the time requirements to move nearly 100 personnel, equipment, parachutes and reestablishing inflight communication from one aircraft to another," McFarlane said.

Da Giau reacted immediately and led a team that got the job done, which ensured the entire formation was able to take off on time for a 15-hour flight to Australia, McFarlane said.

Da Giau said, experience led him to determine that the problems with the aircraft were not an easy fix, allowing him to prepare for a cross loading prior to the final decision being made.

"I've been in this job for almost 10 years now," Da Giau said. "After seeing so many, you kind of get to know which [maintenance issue] is going to be a hard break or which they are going to be able to fix in an hour and we are going to be good to go."

"An aircraft swap requires some coordination," Da Giau said. "First I had to talk with Air Terminal Operations Center to gather information on aircraft availability, timelines, direction from Tanker Airlift Control Center and the estimated time of completion for the current aircraft."

During that time, Da Giau ran checklists while waiting for the Tanker Airlift Control Center to make the call to tail swap.

"I was able to have the aircraft prepared and uploaded with the cargo while the air crew transferred their gear," Da Giau said. "They were able to just stow their gear and start engines. This reduced the time by about 30 minutes."

The entire JBER team worked tirelessly to help plan and out-load for Talisman Saber, McFarlane said.

"This is the fastest reload for an airborne mission that I have witnessed in more than 16 years of airborne service," McFarlane said. "Aside from senior leadership, the rest of the task force, loaded into the other four aircraft, was unaware of any issues. That's a credit to the quick thinking and leadership of the men on the flight line, and their leader: Staff Sgt. Todd Da Giau."

Da Giau's enthusiasm to support the joint team is a perfect example of the great partnership the Army has with their brothers and sisters in blue on this joint base and is what makes JBER such a great place for paratroopers to be stationed, McFarlane said.

Da Giau spoke with pride when asked about being recognized for his hard work by the commander.

"It was awe-inspiring to hear the impact it had on the mission," Da Giau said. "Most Airmen in this career field are humble about what we do and consider everything we do part of the job. It is not often that we get to know the impact we have on a mission or get a thank you."