U.S. Air Force
August 22, 2014
Romania air base replaces Transit Center Manas
By Staff Sgt. Shawn Nickel, Air Forces Central Public Affairs
MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIR BASE, Romania: “It’s so green here,” is often the first words uttered from service members as they step off an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III after arriving from Afghanistan or other deployed locations.
Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, located 25 miles northwest of the Black Sea city of Constanta, started operations in February 2014 and has already processed more than 85,000 troops.
“It’s all about getting warfighters to the fight and getting them home when it’s all said and done,” stated U.S. Army Col. Ronald D. Brown Jr., the 21st Sustainment Command assistant chief of staff. “We’ve handled up to 2,000 Soldiers a day. Having a great relationship with our host nation in conjunction with taking what we’ve done in previous operations has streamlined it into what we have here.”
The ability to conduct operations at Kogalniceanu AB gives combatant commanders flexibility and responsiveness moving equipment, supplies and troops into and out of the U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command areas of operations.
It takes an efficient team of almost 600 people, including approximately 140 Airmen, to sustain the operations, which has shipped more than 2,100 tons of baggage in addition to military equipment, served hundreds of thousands of meals and inspected almost 61,000 body armor plates.
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The base has quickly become a favored location for Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, who have previously been to Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan…
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Since only weeks after September 11, 2001, troops have passed to and from Afghanistan through Manas. Without a new lease in Kyrgyzstan, the U.S. was forced to find a new location to ferry troops. With an inter-service relationship and infrastructure already built in Romania, it quickly became the top choice for transit operations.
“The working relationship dynamic is absolutely amazing here; everybody works together very well,” Blea said. “If one aspect fails, then we all fail because we are all working toward a common goal.”
The new operation comes with several advantages. The annual operating cost is approximately $18 million, which is 77 percent less than Manas. The average time it takes to process personnel deploying into theater is 36 hours, which is 12 hours less; and 40 hours to redeploy to home stations, which is 32 hours less than Manas.
“Time on the ground between when a Soldier or Marine lands is significant to the overall picture,” Brown said. “This operation is expeditionary in nature meaning we could collapse this operation if needed. Time and efficiency are saved based on how we conduct operations here. (Kogalniceanu AB) is the next evolution in how we conduct passenger transit.”
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