Yokota AB hosts annual passport training

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kevin West
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Yokota Air Base, Japan --  The 374th Force Support Squadron, Military Personnel Flight hosted the annual Passport Application Acceptance Training at the Professional Development Center, July 18-19, at Yokota Air Base, Japan.

The training is used by the Department of Defense and Department of State to certify passport agents.

“If we don’t have passport agents then people have to be sent to the embassy where they experience long wait times,” said 1st Lt. Joseph Wight, 374 FSS, MPF commander. “That causes a lot of issues. Having a passport agent really helps out a base as a whole, especially here at Yokota because we have so many folks that come and go.”

Participants from all over the world attended the training, with Yokota gaining three additional passport agents.

“For about a year we were hurting in regards to passports because we only had one person that was a passport agent for Yokota,” said Wight. “It was a single point of failure. Now we are getting three more individuals trained up.”

People come from all over the region to get their passports done here and with the conclusion of the training, the passport team is able to provide the service at a stable rate.

“Our team goes above and beyond what a regular passport team would do,” said Wight. “They go through the application process line by line, answering any questions you might have. We take a personal approach. We care about our customers.”