I wanted to re-post a story that I published on DVIDS.  The link is here

Army Lt Col Dean Huard wrote the article and is our branch chief in charge of the U.S. National Airflow Authority.  I work with him over here and the USNAA mission is to synchronize airflow into Afghanistan's airfields.  Prior to its inception this year, management of the airfields was done on a more ad-hoc basis and slot times were not prioritized and organized in advance.  The USNAA allows for better effirciency of the airfields and distribution of soldiers and cargo.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Due to the current force uplift in Afghanistan and the minimal amount of serviceable airfields, monitoring and synchronizing the airflow of cargo and personnel into these airfields is a critical task.

Central Command Deployment and Distribution Center’s U.S. National Airfield Authority members, Army Lt. Col. Dean A. Huard and Air Force Capt. Britnee McIntyre, participated in meetings with the NATO Shape and Allied Movement Control Center, the Airfield Flow Coordination Center at the Tanker Control Center, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, May 2010 to coordinate more efficient air flow into Afghanistan’s airfields.

Prior to the implementation of the new airflow process, there were many issues such as decreased efficiency of time slot utilization, no centralized prioritization, and an increase in Prior Permission Request cancellations.

According to Major General Jochen Both, German Air Force, “Flights at the Afghanistan airfields since Jan. 1 have indicated that improved airfield slot time coordination and management is not only possible, but is actually a necessary precondition for successful and timely force closure.”