SEATTLE-TACOMA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Wash. -- Shoes click across smoothly polished floors with anxiety and purpose. Murmuring voices discuss checked bag dimensions and cost. Frantic eyes flit from one sign to another as they rush past you with a whirlwind of luggage and panicked muttering. The smell is clean but artificial. Your brain is a jumbled mess of times, regulations, paperwork, and headcounts. What time is departure? Do I have that document for my cat? Where’d the other kid go? I really need some coffee. Do these thoughts sound familiar? Welcome to the airport; we hope you’re ready!
Overseas permanent changes of station and space-available flights through Air Mobility Command’s Seattle Gateway can be stressful enough without worrying about how your luggage is going to get to your aircraft or whether you’ll have enough time to make it through the Transportation Security Administration’s lines. U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Frank Brooks, 62d Aerial Port Squadron gateway manager, is the team lead for several dedicated Airmen who strive to cut down on the friction between getting military affiliated passengers through the AMC Patriot Express check in lines and onto their flight.
Brooks leads a team of professionals who consist of: Tech. Sgt. Vincent Simmons (who is currently deployed), Staff Sgt. Christopher Overholt, SrA Hunter Williams, all 62d APS contractor officer representatives, and a group of government contractors that act as check-in counter agents. Since Brooks started working at AMC’s Seattle Gateway in December 2022, he has made it the team’s mission to improve passenger quality of life during arrivals, departures and throughout the process.
“The process in itself is not ideal, it works, but it’s not the best,” said Brooks. “I think we all have an understanding of that fact, so my goal has been finding ways to make it better for the passengers.”
Because of the amount of time it takes to check-in passengers who are PCSing, the gateway line opens seven hours prior to departure. This is one hour longer than the required 6 hours and one of the several ways the gateway team works to alleviate travel strain on passengers. This process typically takes place overnight because of the limitations the gateway has on check-in counter usage. Within the allotted time the check-in agents must ensure passengers have all the proper paperwork for international travel, pets, dependents, luggage and must also ensure all Patriot Express processes are followed properly.
With over 65,000 passengers, and 6,000 pets, arriving or departing through the AMC Seattle Gateway in fiscal year 2024, Brooks and his team have stayed dedicated to supporting DoD passengers and their families with updated processes and innovative solutions. One of these improvements included working with TSA to ensure that all military affiliated passengers (DoD, active military, retired military, civilian dependent, etc.) have expedited screening, after the team received an interactive customer evaluation complaint about a mother whose baby was awoken while going through the normal TSA process. Another improvement consisted of working with the port to allow for AMC affiliated passengers who are arriving at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to make their way through customs and border protection before grabbing their pets and bags. This process update, along with individual AMC customs lines, significantly increased the speed and ease of which AMC passengers could make their way from their arrival gates to their pets and luggage outside of the international arrivals exit.
“Frank and the team have really exponentially moved the ball forward,” said Maj. Denise Caspers, 62d APS commander. “These are processes that are benefiting DoD passengers, not just the Air Force, not just making their job easier, but benefiting the passenger. That’s what Frank and the team do. They care about the mission. They care about the operation. They care about the families that are coming through here and they are doing what they can to make it a better environment for them.”
Although the improvements took Brooks and his team hard work, they were able to accomplish them only through dedication and strong professional relationships.
“The relationship building is what has ultimately helped us make these process improvements,” said Brooks. “It all takes approval from leaders within the Port of Seattle; TSA, Customs, Port Authority, International Arrivals Facility Managers, it takes all of those parties to say, ‘Yeah, this is a good idea.’”
Although process updates have been made at the gateway, Brooks still believes there is more that can be done. He and the team are working to move the check-in software that the contractors use, from the Air Force’s non-classified internet protocol router network to the easier-to-access online version of the software that other locations in the world utilize.
“I think that would be a huge win for our contractors and for our passengers,” said Brooks. “Anything that makes the contractor’s lives easier makes the passengers lives easier too.”
In addition to the improvements already made and the improvements the gateway team is working on, the team was also able to produce a video guiding passengers through the process of arrivals and departures at the AMC Seattle Gateway. The video included pro tips and valuable information on a variety of important subjects and was produced by the Visual Information Services section of the 62d Airlift Wing Public Affairs office. The video is available via the AMC Seattle Gateway website at www.amc.af.mil/amc-travel-site/terminals/conus-terminals/seattle-tacoma-international-gateway/.
The team also hopes to help connect the same check-in software to the TSA’s own software thereby allowing AMC passengers to have officially stamp TSA PreCheck boarding passes.
“The leadership team we have between Maj. Caspers, Chief Master Sgt. Cannon, Col. Thompson ̶ they show a vested interest in SeaTac operations, passenger experience, and making our team and operations better,” said Brooks. “That motivates me to want to be successful and do my job better because I don’t want to let them or our passengers down. That’s a big piece of why we are where we are with all of these improvements.”
Brooks, who will be leaving the team soon, hopes that his team’s work will continue to improve the lives of AMC gateway passengers even after he is gone.