MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIR BASE, Romania -- The jeep rolls up to the security check point through mud, gravel and the remnants of a heavy snowfall in late January. The guard, a dark-haired and stern-looking young Romanian sergeant, wears an expression suggesting he takes his job seriously and, perhaps, resents the hassle of another American vehicle. The guard's demeanor transforms instantly when he spots the driver through the descending window. A smile washes over his face as he exchanges greetings with the driver, a big, gregarious American warrant officer with a broad smile and personable manner. The scene replays, in its essentials, at transportation facilities, military and contractor offices, and businesses throughout the modest town of MK and the nearby port city of Constanta.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Scott Hahn's relentless energy powers MK Air Base at least as effectively as the municipal grid and back-up generators the facility relies on for electricity. When Hahn graduated from Little Valley High School in rural southwest New York in 1996, his senior class of 22 barely qualified for a football team. As quarterback of a critically shorthanded team reduced to starting eighth-graders on the offensive line, Hahn led his small but spirited squad to one improbable win in the face of long odds. Seven time zones away from Cattaraugus County, Hahn still specializes in rallying small but spunky teams to improbable triumphs.
The "Hahn dynasty" at MK predates the arrival of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command headquarters personnel, engineers and information technology experts who came to build infrastructure for the new passenger transit center or the 16th Sustainment Brigade Soldiers who assumed a managerial role in its operations by late January. Hahn's relationship with the MK community dates from the summer of 2012, when he conducted his initial reconnaissance and, unexpectedly, found himself immersed in operations. Reassigned to 21st TSC headquarters after a lengthy tenure at Fort Hood, Texas, Hahn found himself in Romania before all his household goods reached Kaiserslautern.
"Before I was even in-processed they shipped me down here," he recalled with a smile. "I came down to see how the mission worked and the next thing I knew they told me I was staying." The first mission established a pattern that persisted through the end of 2013. Typically, Hahn and European-based colleagues rotated into Romania for tightly focused 45- to 60-day missions, distilling enormous amounts of activity into the condensed time frame. Yankee ingenuity substituted effectively for space-age technology, with representatives of partnering organizations huddling around a white board to de-conflict flights, facilities, support and schedules.
"We worked very long hours, and some very late nights, but we made things happen and had a lot of fun," Hahn said. "It was informal, usually with 'white board and paper copy' technology, but very productive. I've heard the phrase 'creative logistics' used to describe the mentality. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but we definitely had to think outside the box to make the mission happen with 25 guys."
Hahn and his small but energetic team of movement controllers and cargo handlers achieved results out of all proportion with their numbers during the early stages of the mission, establishing a reputation as problem-solvers and consensus builders. Working in concert with Romanian military members and border policemen, the Black Sea Area Support Team that managed base operations, the U.S. Air Force team that ran the military airfield, contractors and commercial airport partners, Hahn and his logisticians accomplished the air mobility mission on a boot-string and laid much of the groundwork for future success.
Col. Claude Lovell, the base and BSAST commander, worked closely with Hahn during several of his early ventures into the region. Lovell's modest BSAST team provided the bulk of support services as Hahn directed the mobility mission. The base commander praised Hahn's practicality, versatility and unique ability to unite partners across agencies, services and nations.
"He made the operational mission run," the Overland, Kan. resident said bluntly. "He has good horse sense. He's respectful -- he never hacks people off as a matter of course. He minds the details and he always takes care of the mission. He's great to work with."
Hahn builds rapport and consensus as readily as he builds flight plans. His personal touch played no small role in uniting the efforts of collaborators as varied as Romanian Air Force colonels and German-based U.S. contractors performing duties at MK. More than half a dozen agencies united only by Hahn's cell phone number frequently united in efforts that normally incite days, weeks or even months of bureaucratic wrangling and turf tussles.
"I knew I could ask him anything, anytime, day or night, and he would help," said Romanian Air Force Maj. Vasile Cozma, the chief of the Aeronautical Services Office at MK Air Base and a native of Constanta. "He worked with the Romanian Air Force; he worked with the MK International Airport; he worked with the border police. He started a daily synch meeting to discuss all types of issues and whatever we needed to do to be successful in the next operation. He was able to put together all the things necessary to accomplish the mission."
Hahn doesn't deny the charges.
"I'm a get-it-done type of guy and I think folks see that," he said. "They know if there's something they really need to get done, I'll do it and they can count on me."
"It comes down to knowing who you're working with," he added. "You find out what their likes and dislikes are. You learn your left and right limits. If you exceed those limits you run the risk of doing something unacceptable and alienating your partners -- you don't want to give the impression you're doing whatever you want without considering your partners. You try to come to an agreement that's acceptable to everyone."
Hahn's work at MK offers insights into the fast-paced world of "mobility warrants," who frequently man the front-lines of efforts to establish communication, transportation and supply hubs in support of new or expanding missions. Typically mid-to-senior-level chief warrant officers as the name implies, mobility warrants serve within the Support Operations cell, translating orders generated by the Operations section into concrete results. Hahn describes the ideal mobility warrant as a strategic thinker with a practical outlook and a preference for action over process and bureaucracy.
"He's the strategic transportation specialist who can integrate the different movement systems and track all aspects of the mission in order to execute the tasks given to us," Hahn said. "We're trained in all varieties of transportation and in-transit visibility systems -- everything required to make the movement process work."
Mobility officers serving in Europe face the additional challenge of operating across regions and commands in support of some of the world's most vital contemporary missions. The 21st TSC supports operations within the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command as well as the U.S. European Command area of responsibility.
"Big picture, the TSC is here to facilitate the sustainment of the European theater," Hahn said. "We stood up the transit center at MK to facilitate the movement of troops, gear and equipment into and out of the CENTCOM theatre of operations. It's a big mission, but we try to bring that relevant transportation expertise into the organization."
Colleagues believe they located the ideal mobility warrant.
"I really think Chief Hahn epitomizes the mobility warrant," said fellow Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Harvey of 21st TSC headquarters, who headed the information technology effort at MK. "His knowledge of cargo, air operations and in-transit visibility systems is incredible. But even more than that, his ability to build bonds with the Romanians, the Air Force and all the other enabling agencies here has, in many ways, made this whole operation possible.
"He just plain makes things happen," the Lansing, Mich. native continued. "What would take most of us weeks of time and a mountain of paperwork to accomplish, he accomplishes with a phone call. He gets on the phone and says, 'Can you help me out with this?' and somehow it happens. He has this uncanny ability to make people want to help him accomplish things. He?'s an impressive guy."
"The mission went flawlessly thanks to him," Lovell said succinctly. "I'd take that guy in a heartbeat. They can?'t pay him enough."
Hahn not only accomplished the air mobility mission independently for a year and a half, but laid the groundwork for future success at MK, contributing valuable insights to facility developmental efforts. His three Operation Iraqi Freedom and one Operation Enduring Freedom deployments took him through depots at Ali Al Salem, Kuwait, Baghdad and Manas, familiarizing him with a variety of approaches to terminal layout, technology, passenger flow, customs operations, and administrative procedures. Hahn incorporated lessons learned from other missions into the MK planning process, encouraging the adoption of effective strategies and avoidance of practices that diminished efficiency and frustrated passengers.
When Col. Michael C. Snyder arrived to direct the establishment of a new passenger transit center and expand base facilities, Hahn continued to play a forceful role in daily operations as well as construction efforts.
"He's the colonel's right-hand man," Harvey said. "He's the first guy Col. Snyder and everyone else looks at when they have a question about any of the facilities and missions. Senior-ranking officers routinely seek him out for advice and guidance about how to accomplish the mission. He knocks it out of the park."
Hahn has travelled, literally and figuratively, a great distance from the woods and farms of upstate New York and the ports of Hawaii, where he served as a junior enlisted watercraft operator prior to Fort Hood and Warrant Officer Candidate School. He takes enormous pride in his success and his achievements. But his feet remain planted firmly on the ground -- usually mud at MK. The founder of the Hahn dynasty views himself as a small if energetic part of "Team 21" and the Army he serves.
"I take pride in the Army and my job," Hahn said. "When you're given a task, you make it happen and take pride in that. I take pride in everything I do that represents the organization I'm part of and the Army I'm part of."
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