We visited with Air Force leaders and Airmen at Ramstein and Aviano Air Bases in Germany and Italy before heading to Hungary to see the Heavy Airlift Wing and out to Lask Air Base in Poland to see what we’re doing to deter aggression and support our allies in Eastern Europe.

We received mission briefings and toured facilities to interact with airmen doing their jobs. There were some opportunities to see the local communities and experience a bit of daily life.

Ramstein Air Base is home to the largest community of Americans living outside of the US, some 58,000 people. The nearby town of Kaiserslautern and other surrounding communities has been a wonderful and gracious partner to this large US presence since the end of WWII. Deterrence partnership is a key focus for Germany. Briefings covered the European, and African theaters, the NATO Allied Air Command mission, and the many security concerns throughout this large theater of operations. Guided by the National Defense Strategy, USAF is providing air superiority, USAFE is comprised of nine wings, 31,000 people, and is positioned in twelve forward locations. USAF-AF in contrast is a much smaller (1 wing, 1400 people, six forward locations) and therefore limited in scope on such a large continent. NATO Allied Air Command ensures the security of NATO air space for the Alliance. Security Assistance Group-Ukraine (SAG-U) is providing training, supplies, equipment, and situational awareness in support of Ukrainian forces.

Aviano Air Base in northern Italy at the foot of the Alps is home to the 31 Fighter Wing, and a USAFE forward location. The wing’s $124.6M budget provides ongoing operations to secure the base, generate combat airpower, be ready to deploy to fight from home, and assist in securing Europe. The wing motto is “Return with Honor” and after meeting these fine airmen and their leaders, one has a sense they will do just that.

Submitted Photo
The Air Force USAFE Civic Leaders traveled to several bases during a recent trip to Europe.

Papa Air Base, Hungary, looks like a small mothballed Soviet era base, except for a big new hangar, office building, and support facility. What makes Papa special is The Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) a one of a kind conglomerate of twelve partnering nations, independent of international organizations and command structures who share C-17s that provide airlift capability to all twelve nations. Participating countries receive a portion of the 3500 available flying hours by paying money and providing people in proportion to their level of use. It was gratifying to meet airmen representing all of the various countries working together as one unit to support the SAC mission. We were also able to spend part of the afternoon in the town of Papa and see a local blue dye museum and Esterhazy Castle before boarding our C-130 for the flight to Poland.

Lask Air Base is located about a 25-minute drive from Lodz, Poland. The 52nd Operations Group/Det 1 is a geographically separated unit of USAFE and EUCOM, subordinate to the 52nd Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. Det 1 is tasked with enhancing regional security and building partnership capacity and capability through hosting combined training exercises and supporting deployed forces in deterring aggression and defending NATO. The Polish Air Force currently flies F-16s at Lask, but as part of the F-35 program, will be upgrading to F-35s. To that end, a major F-35 operations complex is under construction. Lask is only three hundred miles from Ukraine and in addition to the air defense fighter mission, serves as a support base for materiel and allied advisory support for Ukraine.

After a C-130 flight back to Ramstein, we boarded a C-17 for the flight back to our nation’s capital.

Key takeaways from the trip:

1. USAFE is critical to operations across Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia and provides an invaluable airlift hub that supports NATO and many partner nations.

2. Africa has grown in importance and our engagement there is important as peer competitors, like China, compete for influence. Instability and the growing threat from violent extremist organizations make it a challenging environment.

3. Airmen we met are executing the missions with professionalism and sense of purpose. Morale is high because the airmen understand the importance of their missions..

4. We work closely with host countries to provide needed support to our Airmen and their families.

5. There are surprisingly successful examples of cooperation between nations, like SAC. That cooperation is stronger now than ever before. The Strategic Airlift Capability, which is a 30-year agreement on sharing airlift, is an example of the type of cooperation happening between nations.

6. Nations in Eastern Europe, which were once dominated behind “the iron curtain” are fearful that if Russia succeeds in Ukraine they are also at risk. The closer they are to Russia, and the smaller they are, the greater their fear.

7. Poland is all-in with the West and NATO, using their talent and treasure to insure a free future.

8. Even though China is clearly our pacing threat, the war in Ukraine demonstrates that we must maintain a focus across the Globe, even as what is happening today in Ukraine dominates their thoughts.

9. US presence and leadership are essential to success in Europe.

10. Shared platforms and technology, e.g., the US-produced F-35, allows us to integrate, communicate and fight as one force with our allies.

Mark Jantzer is USAF civic leader emeritus and chair of Task Force 21, Minot.