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Sather AB Airmen welcome Operation New Dawn

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Mike Edwards
  • 321st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SATHER AIR BASE, Baghdad --  The end of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the start of Operation New Dawn marked a significant milestone in the history of the United States and the country of Iraq. During this change of mission, came a change in leadership for the US Forces-Iraq and the men and women from the 321st Air Expeditionary Wing, were on hand to handle the logistics.

The change of command ceremony for General Raymond Odierno, outgoing USF-I Commander, held September 1, at the Al Faw Palace on the Victory Base Complex, was attended by the Vice President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, just to name a few of the many distinguished visitors who arrived to participate. All of these DVs and their support staff came through Sather AB.

"This was the biggest single movement of distinguished visitors of this type in the history of Iraq," said Capt. Lisa Mclean, Protocol Officer for the 321st AEW. "The first wave of DVs and their support staff started arriving August 25 and things didn't slow down until a couple of days ago."

Planning for this event began well over a month ago and involved a cross-section of organizations.

"We had to coordinate with the State Department, Secret Service, DoD and numerous other organizations," she said. "This was more than a joint effort; it truly was a combined effort with multiple agencies of the Federal government. Now that it is all said and done, I can look back and say that everything went off without a hitch."

While Capt. McLean attributes extensive planning and coordination as one of the keys to success, she and others readily admit that what truly made this monumental movement of passengers and equipment such a stellar success was the collective individual efforts of the men and women stationed at Sather AB who made all this happen.

"It truly was amazing to see everyone pull together to make this happen," said Senior Master Sgt. Robert Ree, First Sergeant for the 447th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron. "Our main job in ELRS is moving people and cargo and it's a job we do well. With a movement of this magnitude, we had to pull resources from the entire base to handle this surge. We had volunteers from various Air Force specialties step up and volunteer to help out our Logistics folks. It was just amazing."

Fresh from a recent surge in activity of drawing down the total number of forces in Iraq to the Presidential mandate of 50 thousand, the members of the 447th ELRS were still running in high gear and ready to handle big movements. However, given the compressed schedule and the significance of the Change of Command, Ree said that this "surge" operation really needed to pull from the pool of talent throughout the base.

"People with no background in logistics management jumped in with both feet to make this happen. Everyone had a desire to pitch in and contribute in any way they could," he said. "This was truly a team effort. I'm very proud of everyone here."

It is this pride in the professionalism and the service-before-self attitude demonstrated by those living and working in the "Gateway to Iraq", as Sather AB is known, that impressed Brig. Gen. Scott Hanson, Commander of the 321st AEW, and Sather Installation Commander.

"In addition our mission of training, advising and assisting the Iraqi Air Force, we still have an operational mission of moving people and equipment throughout the AOR. Once again, the Airmen of the 447th have proven they can do both effectively," Brig. Gen. Hanson said.

He further explained that surge operations are nothing new for those at Sather AB. From the surge in troop levels a few years ago, to the drawdown of forces, to the largest movement of distinguished visitors of this magnitude for a single event, the men and women of Sather AB have had huge successes, according to the General.

"Operation New Dawn represents a whole-of-government, comprehensive approach that supports and strengthens Iraq's long-term security, political, economic development, and diplomatic depth, contributing to peace and stability in the region," said Brig. Gen. Hanson. "To do this, we work hand-in-hand with our Iraqi partners every step of the way in everything we do. It's an effective approach and it's working."