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***image2***Thirty Ramstein Airmen on two C-130s recently flew the long journey to the southern region of Africa to participate in an air show and share some of their knowledge and experience with the airmen of the South African Air Force.
After their four-day visit with the Botswana Defense Force, the group continued on to South Africa to participate in the 2008 Africa Aerospace & Defense Air Show at Ysterplaat Air Force Base, South Africa, where they performed flyovers and interacted with members of air forces from throughout the world.
Next they went on to Waterkloof Air Force Base, South Africa, to provide training to some of their South African C-130 counterparts with the 28th Squadron of the South African National Defense Force.
“While the Botswana Defense Force was looking for deployment training, the South African Air Force asked for training on night vision goggles,” said Col. Mark August, 37th Airlift Squadron commander. “So we put together a team of our most qualified members whose expertise on night vision enabled us to provide training to the South African Air Force. Our aim here is to teach them at the basic fundamental level of how NVGs can be used while operating their aircraft.”
The first day with the South Africans started with some coffee and an initial opportunity for the aircrew members from both countries to meet and interact informally. Then both crews went to a briefing room where Col. Herman Olmesdahl, 28th Squadron commander, officially welcomed the Ramstein Airmen and talked about the mission and history of their unit.
Colonel August then took the opportunity to address the members of the South African Air Force and talk about the 37th AS mission, sharing stories and experiences.
Capt. Sarah Santoro provided an extensive briefing on NVGs, explaining their capabilities and limitations.
“The briefing was very informative and this visit has been very interesting,” said Colonel Olmesdahl. “We have learned a lot from this training and I hope your team had a chance to learn something from us as well. We are planning to start using NVGs soon and this training helps us get started and not reinvent the wheel.”
***image1***After the briefings, some of the Team Ramstein members had a chance to join their counterparts on a short familiarization flight on one of the South African C-130s.
“It’s amazing. The difference is that they’re so similar and yet so different,” said Senior Airman Christopher Weston, a C-130 loadmaster with the 37th AS. “We get to see the different ways they operate and the different ways and places where they store things. I’m really enjoying this excellent experience. It has been amazing to interface with the different military components and learning from them while they learn from us as well.”
At the end of the day, the Americans were treated by the South Africans to some food and drink in one of their hangars.
The next day was the hands-on part of the training, where South African aircrew members got to join the Americans in a night sortie using NVGs.
“We already have received feedback of absolute success from the South Africans involved with this operation,” said Maj. David Panzera, the bilateral affairs officer for the state partnership program. “A while back, the 28th Squadron had expressed a need to learn more about the way we do air-land operations in a tactical environment, specifically using NVGs. The idea then came about to bring aircraft to the African Aerospace Expo, but bringing in an aircrew just for that would have been far too expensive. We therefore opted for a military-to-military trip with a focus on sharing expertise, and we ensured that this trip coincided with the exposition.”
The major also added that thanks to this training, the South Africans are developing greater confidence in their air-land operations conducted with NVG, as they look forward to providing future strategic support to areas like Darfur, Rwanda and the rest of the African continent.
On their last day, the Airmen enjoyed a visit to the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve where they got to see a variety of animals native to Africa in their natural habitat.
As the Team Ramstein members prepared for their two-day journey back to Ramstein, aircrew members from both countries expressed that they sincerely appreciated the opportunity to interact with and learn from each other.
“I am honored to see that our people have been working together and accepting each other very well,” said Brig. Gen. Sam Madumane, Waterkloof Air Force Base commander. “One of the things I’ve learned along the course of this training exercise is that the passion of flying that we share is not only obvious but also shared worldwide across the spectrum of different militaries. The differences between our Air Forces are very subtle; we all do a lot of humanitarian relief and in this arena we have a lot in common. I hope that this experience will strengthen our relationship with the USAF.”
