A baseband processing module of a wireless terminal includes a Turbo decoding module. The Turbo decoding module decodes a Turbo code word to produce one or more Media Access Control (MAC) packet(s) carried by the turbo decode word. Each MAC packet includes a MAC packet header and the MAC packet payload, which carries one or more Radio Link Control (RLC) Packet Data Units (PDUs). The Turbo decoding module decodes the MAC packet header to determine boundaries of the PDUs carried in the MAC packet payload. The Turbo decoding module decodes RLC PDU headers and RLC PDU payloads of the RLC PDUs. The Turbo decoding module writes the decoded MAC packet header, the decoded RLC PDU headers, and the decoded RLC PDU payloads to memory in a word-aligned format. The Turbo decoding module may also operate in various other Turbo decoding modes.