JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska —  Following more than a year of innovation and work, the 176th Logistics Readiness Squadron is testing the Logistical Operations Device cart that will greatly enhance aerial cargo operations in an austere combat environment or during domestic disaster-relief operations.

Modesto, California, native Staff Sgt. Juan Ortega, 176th LRS Air Transportation Function Flight, said the LOD is set to replace the older method of offloading cargo from a C-130 Hercules when materiel-handling equipment is not available.

“The Logistical Operations Device is something that we are looking to substitute Combat Offload Method B, helping us to offload cargo in austere locations,” Ortega said. “It can be a small airport or an island without a whole lot of infrastructure.”

Combat Offload Method B is a procedure requiring a lot of equipment and specialized training to safely use.

“Combat Offload Method B uses 55-gallon steel drum barrels as our highline dock, and it’s only certified for a C-130 Hercules at 15,000 pounds for a pallet train, which is two floor pallets connected together to hold really large and fragile cargo,” Ortega said. “How it works is you place your first set of barrels behind the ramp of the C-130, engines running, and once everyone is in place, you connect the cargo to the forklift via chains and vices. When everyone is ready, you signal to the loadmaster to taxi forward until we reach the most opportune time to stop the aircraft, place the next set of barrels, so on and so forth until the cargo is completely off the plane.”

Though a tried-and-true process, Ortega said it’s a cumbersome procedure with some risk.

“The problem is you’re having Airmen place up to 15,000 pounds of cargo on the barrels, so there’s a chance for a mishap, especially when you have to get the plane off of the X,” he said.

Ortega said the Air Force is training Multi-Capable Airmen as part of the Agile Combat Employment operations who can do multiple jobs outside of their Air Force specialty code, and he anticipates others doing aerial port duties on short notice in a combat zone.

“There could be a medical troop out there, a firefighter, security forces – the LOD Cart decreases the risk for those who end up using it,” Ortega said. “Instead of having the C-130 taxi forward, you would have it stay in place acting like a K-loader [materiel handler]. You would extend the LOD Cart out from its nested position into its two-pallet position, push the cargo onto the LOD cart, and call it a day. It’s nice and simple, and anyone can do it.”

Ortega said the genesis of the LOD stems from a training exercise, which exposed the limitations of Combat Offload Method B’s constraint to C-130 as opposed to the larger C-17 Globemaster III.

“My leadership called me at 2 a.m. in the morning and asked if we could do a Combat Offload Method B from a C-17, and I said, ‘No, you can’t because the barrels aren’t tall enough, and there’s too many variables making it too risky,’” Ortega recalled. And they said, ‘Why don’t we make a mobile highline dock?’ I told them I would look into it.”

Ortega went to the Arctic Spark Innovation Lab at JBER, linking up with Staff Sgt. Sean McDermott, 176th Wing Innovation lead.

McDermott pointed Ortega to the National Security Innovation Network, which further led to a collaboration with engineers at Texas A&M. Following some back-and-forth communication between the Airmen and the engineers, they worked out a rough computer-aided design drawing of the cart.

What they came up with is a light, compact system that fits on one cargo pallet.

“One cart is a little bit bigger than the smaller cart, so they can nest into each other during transport,” Ortega said. “Once you’re ready to have it operational and ready to go, you would place one cart in front of the other cart, put the system on jacks to raise it up to the level of the cargo ramp, and then it’s ready to catch cargo.”

After more than a year in the design and prototype phase, Ortega said he grew professionally through the process.

“It was a learning experience for all of us,” he said. “This is my first time bringing something like this to fruition, I learned a lot as an innovator, and I hope to be able to share my knowledge with other people in a similar situation solving a problem.”

Ortega said it took numerous Airmen and agencies to receive his original vision.

“No one individual will have the answers, which is why you build a team, and you all learn together,” Ortega said. “You carry the torch from one person to another to run the marathon at the same time.”

  cargo, cart, jber, logistics