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Two U.S. Air Force C-130Js flew missions into Russia from Ramstein Aug. 13 delivering firefighting supplies promised by President Barack Obama.
The aircraft from the 37th Airlift Squadron on Ramstein delivered equipment from Army, Air Force, Marine and Navy units throughout the U.S. European Command
theater of operations.
U.S. EUCOM began brainstorming about a week before the operation on how the command could help after the Russian government passed a list of equipment they needed to the U.S. embassy in Moscow.
“Our smart planners worked with all of our components in Europe to rapidly determine what we could supply,” said Maj. Gen. Harold Moulton, U.S. EUCOM operations director. “We identified supplies like Pioneer Equipment, large diameter hoses, mobile pumping stations, personal protective equipment and medical kits, and then packaged them for delivery.
“We reached out to our bases as far west as Rota, Spain, and as far south as Sigonella, Italy (See article on next Page). Additional materials were identified from our stocks in Norway and at our air base at Ramstein. We asked our air component, U.S. Air Forces (in) Europe, to lead, and they did a great job. Our C-130 aircrews demonstrated their flexibility and ‘get it done’ attitude.”
“The U.S. response to the Russian wildfires was a quickly pushed mission, and our crews were ready to spring into action,” said Lt. Col. Tobias Sernel, 37th Airlift Squadron mission commander. “Support from the embassy in Moscow made it possible to get our crews and equipment up in the air in incredible time.
“It was a tiring mission with two roundtrip flights, more than 17 hours of flight time, and hours of loading and off-loading equipment,” he continued. “But when you consider the life-saving equipment delivered and the bilateral relationship that was bolstered, doing all this was worth the effort.”
“This was just an incredible mission from all perspectives,” said Master Sgt. Keith Houin, USAFE Public Affairs documentation team leader. “It was impressive to see the orchestration of hundreds of Airmen, two nations and so much equipment on such short notice. Anyone who touched even the smallest piece of this mission should be proud of what they did. We showed the world that the United States is a great partner.”
The supplies provided to Russia showed the U.S. military capacity to assist when called upon.
“The combined effort clearly demonstrated U.S. value and capability from the European theater,” General Moulton said. “We want all our European partners to know that the U.S. is ready to be a good neighbor — one they can count on.”
