CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Crew members from the 437th Aerial Port Squadron loaded up the first C-17 to be stationed in Hungary July 17 here.
The C-17, only a few days off the Boeing assembly line, is being delivered to Papa AB, Hungary, a base which was about to close until Hungary emerged as a NATO country.
Now the base, a multinational consortium, consists of 12 members of NATO: Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the United States, as well as Partnership for Peace nations Finland and Sweden.
"The load of cargo, although not as dramatic as the plane touching down, will be a huge step forward for our maintainers, the aero port crew and the life support crew," said Col. John Zazworsky, Papa AB Heavy Airlift Wing commander.
Charleston "Port Dawgs" worked approximately two hours to load the cargo onto the aircraft and prepare it for takeoff.
"We are loading two next generation small loaders, a lavatory service truck and a 10K all-terrain forklift, which are going to be used as support equipment for all of the ground operations for the C-17," said Bobby Robinson, 437th Aerial Port Squadron air freight manager. "All of the equipment Papa AB is getting is brand new equipment."
With this equipment, air crews will be able to fly a variety of NATO transport missions, which will be manned by aircrews of NATO countries.
Papa AB, located in the town of Papa, Hungary, is an old Soviet air force fighter base where a handful of soviet aircraft still remain, but have not been flown in years. The base was last used as a helicopter search and rescue base for the people in the western part of Hungary. The base was set for closure, until Nov. 18, 2007, when it was selected to host C-17 transport aircrafts for NATO.
"The wing is multi-national," said Colonel Zazworsky. "All 12 nations of [the consortium] have at least one person participating in the wing. The nations participate based on the number of people in proportion to how many flying hours they get out of the program."
The U.S. Air Force has been working at Papa AB since October 2008, explained Colonel Zazworsky. The first Airmen started to arrive in December 2008 and have continued to work there during the last several months.
"In 1999 when Hungary joined NATO, NATO invested collectively in this base to improve the runway, the ramp, the approach lighting and also build a small hanger as a continuative base for NATO," said Colonel Zazworsky. "When the nations came together to discuss sharing the C-17 ability in Europe, looking for a place to put it, this base had a lot going for it."
Aside from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada all have C-17 fleets and have been operating them for several years.
"This is the first of three aircraft that will be delivered to Hungary to set up our small flying unit," said Colonel Zazworsky. "This is another chapter in C-17 history that is a little bit different, because our unit is made up of people from every NATO country."