Skywatch No. 08 - 27 Apr 2012 (pdf) - nato awacs

By Lt. Col. Luc Labelle
The Commander of the NATO
Airborne Early Warning & Control
Force Command, U.S. Air Force
Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Schmidt, visited
Camp Marmal in Mazar-e Sharif
(MeS) from April 3 to 7.
This short adventure to Afghanistan
started off with the task to fly an
E-3A aircraft from Geilenkirchen to
MeS as part of a planned aircraft
rotation. On the morning of April 3,
General Schmidt joined the flying
crew, checked the en-route weather,
proceeded to the aircraft and flew
this long sortie as the first pilot. The
flight route took them through the
Southeastern part of Europe, over the
Mediterranean Ocean, Egypt, Saudi
Arabia, United Arab Emirates, then airto-air
refueled over the Persian Gulf
before continuing through Pakistan to
Afghanistan.
Upon their arrival to MeS, they
were welcomed by the Force Element
Commander, Lt. Col. Helmut Diwo,
and his staff. During his stay in
MeS, General Schmidt had a few
objectives which included getting
acquainted with the Force Element
(FE) personnel, visit Regional
Command (RC) North Headquarters
and other units on the base, as
Volume 28, No. 8 27 April 2012
NATO Skywatch is an authorized, unofficial
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well as experience a day as one of
the deployed aircrew and fly an
operational mission in support of
Operation Afghan Assist.
After a good breakfast at the
German Dining Facility on the
morning of April 4, the general was
transported to the Air Ops building
where Diwo and his staff gave him
a briefing and discussed the overall
situation for the FE at Camp Marmal.
After lunch, the afternoon was
reserved to provide General Schmidt
with a base orientation tour and
visit the various offices where the FE
personnel are working: the Air Ops
building and the Logistics area.
To close out the first day in MeS,
General Schmidt was invited to
attend a BBQ buffet dinner with all
available FE personnel. The general
addressed the group, mingled with
everyone and took the time to
discuss various topics to include the
future of the E-3A Component, the
new “Squadron centric” deployment
schedule for the aircrew, as well
as the overall living conditions at
Camp Marmal. This event not only
allowed the FCC to socialize with
the FE personnel, but also offered
an opportunity to present a few
Certificates of Appreciation to
deserving personnel.
Commander
Brig. Gen. Burkhard Pototzky
Chief, Public Affairs
Lt. Col. Antje Kalka
Editor
Staff Sgt. R. Michael Longoria
under exclusive written agreement with the NAEW&CF E-3A Component by HOUX DIGIPRINT,
Arendstraat 3, 6135 KT Sittard, +31 (0)46 4582111. Opinions expressed by contributors are their
The success of this event would
not have been possible without the
commitment and the organizing skills
of the Detachment Chief, 5OR-7
Marlene Shillingford (first female
27 April 2012 NATO Skywatch 3
Photo by Andrea Hohenforst
It’s TNT… It’s dynaFLIGHT
The TNT combined cargo/passenger aircraft landed here on April 13 at 3:18 p.m. For its first official arrival, TNT was welcomed by Component Commander Brig. Gen.
Burkhard Pototzky, Chief of Staff Col. Werner Nemetschek and Logistics Wing Commander Col. Paul Bell.
Force commander visits MeS
Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chris Laurent
U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Schmidt, commander of the NATO Airborne
Early Warning & Control Force Command, enjoys some barbeque during his visit to
Camp Marmal in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan.
DetChief), and OR-7 Tom Schreiber,
the German Liaison NCO commonly
known as the “Spiess”.
Force Commander, See Page 5
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