Got your name on the list? How about a boarding pass? Do you need your luggage prepped or cargo manifested? Such questions, and answers, must be dealt with before anyone makes it up to the flight deck of USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). There’s only one location to address any and all queries, and that’s the Air Transportation Office (ATO).

The personnel assigned to ATO have logged long hours ensuring that Sailors and supplies are getting to Banda Aceh, Sumatra, as well as other points on the compass during Operation Unified Assistance.

The flight deck has been a flurry of non-stop activity since supporting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts to tsunami survivors on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. ATO is making a huge contribution to keep the relief effort flowing smoothly.

“We deal with all the passengers coming and going on all aircraft, along with incoming mail and cargo,” said Storekeeper 2nd Class Heidi Atkins, from San Diego, Calif.  “We make sure there’s 100% accountability coming and going, as well as tracking which aircraft each person or piece of cargo goes on.”

ATO is the organizational hub for much that is leaving from and arriving on the ship. As such, the entire month of January has been a whirlwind of commotion for everyone in ATO. They are helping to coordinate everyone coming and going supporting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts after the wake of the earthquake and tsunami on Dec. 26. They are keeping constant close tabs on the C-2 Greyhound Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) flights, that are being used to ferry personnel, cargo, supplies, and mail across the region, from Thailand to Singapore to Indonesia to the Lincoln flight deck.  According to Storekeeper 2nd Class (SW/AW) Michael Poole, ATO leading petty officer, their role goes beyond just the organizational aspect.

“I make sure that all the passengers are accounted for and get to the helicopter or COD,” said Poole. “We also help around the clock in the onloading and offloading of all aircraft.”

Coordinating extra flights, accommodating additional passengers and loading relief supplies are a challenge for the ATO.

“Operation Unified Assis-tance (OUA) has increased our job easily by ten fold, if not more,” said Chief Torpedoman’s Mate (SW/AW) Michael Holt, ATO’s leading chief petty officer.  “Every visitor has to report to our office.  We get their names, and then every morning before anyone leaves for Banda Aceh, people come check out with us.  We put them on a roster, and then we fly them out on a helicopter or COD.

“After their day is done in Banda Aceh,” continued Holt, “They check back in with us because we have to maintain 100 percent accuracy of who has reported back from the beach.”

Even though ATO’s workload has increased since Abe started its humanitarian relief efforts Jan 1., Holt mentioned teamwork has brought them together. “I think for such a small division that we have, the amount of work and amount of production that comes out of this office is very impressive,” Holt said.

Even though ATO doesn’t step foot in Banda Aceh, the work they do to get people and supplies there has helped make a big difference to thousands of people affected by the tsunami.