U.S. Air Forces in Europe
June 13, 2013
HAW welcomes new commander
By Tech. Sgt. Patrick Mitchell
U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa Public Affairs
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“Yes we are fully operational capable, but the ice is still very thin, as we say in the Netherlands.” said Rombouts. “We do fly all missions, but we now need to start working up to being a military unit. I sometimes use the airdrop mission to explain what I mean with this. We can do airdrop; we can do it in Afghanistan. But can we do it on day one of Gulf war scenario from low level? This is the question we must ask ourselves.”
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PAPA AIR BASE, Hungary: Col. Frank Rombouts, Royal Netherlands Air Force commander, assumed command of the Heavy Airlift Wing during a ceremony here June 12.
The Strategic Airlift Capability Heavy Airlift Wing is the operational arm of the multinational Strategic Airlift Capability. It operates three Boeing C-17 Globemaster III long-range cargo jets providing strategic military airlift capability to the SAC Nations consisting of NATO members Hungary, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the United States, as well as NATO Partnership for Peace nations Finland and Sweden.
Brig. Gen. Thomas Sharpy, Director of Plan, Programs and Analyses for U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa and the Chairman, Strategic Airlift Capability Steering Board, served as the presiding officer for the assumption of command.
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After accepting the unit guidon from Sharpy, Rombouts addressed his Airmen for the first time as commander of the HAW.
“Yes we are fully operational capable, but the ice is still very thin, as we say in the Netherlands.” said Rombouts. “We do fly all missions, but we now need to start working up to being a military unit. I sometimes use the airdrop mission to explain what I mean with this. We can do airdrop; we can do it in Afghanistan. But can we do it on day one of Gulf war scenario from low level? This is the question we must ask ourselves.”
Rombouts said his goal is to ensure the 12 nations of the HAW work seamlessly as one. He calls his method the 13th nation.
“For those of you in the audience who don’t know what I mean; I am speaking of the culture of the HAW, of the work atmosphere,” Rombouts said. “I have told you that the old paradigm of treat others as you want to be treated does not work here. I have also told you that you will insult people and that you will be insulted. You must realize this, for if you do, you can cope with it much easier.”
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
June 13, 2013
For the first time, a European Officer assumes Command of the Heavy Airlift Wing
By Strategic Airlift Capability, Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) Public Affairs
PAPA, Hungary: A Colonel from the Royal Netherlands Air Force assumed command of the Strategic Airlift Capability Heavy Airlift Wing in an official ceremony on 12 June 2013 at the wing’s home field, Pápa Air Base.
Colonel Frank Rombouts is the third commander in the history of the wing since its start of operations in 2009 and the first European officer in this position.
In the ceremony, Colonel Frank Rombouts was presented with the flag of the Heavy Airlift Wing by Brigadier General Thomas J. Sharpy, the Chairman of the Strategic Airlift Capability Steering Board, symbolising the assumption of command of the multinational airlift wing.
Colonel Frank Rombouts has been serving with the Heavy Airlift Wing since March 2011, first as the Vice Commander of the HAW and since February 2013 as the acting Wing Commander.
During its first four years of operations the Strategic Airlift Capability programme and its operational arm Heavy Airlift Wing have reached significant milestones by turning the idea of sharing and operating the fleet of three Boeing C-17 Globemaster IIIs as a consortium of 12 nations into reality.
A clear show of its performance is the fact that the wing C-17 fleet has reached over 10.000 flight hours and has declared Full Operational Capability (FOC). According to Colonel Rombouts, the next goal is to take its capabilities a step further.
“The HAW achieved Full Operational Capability on November 2012, which means we have the ability to carry out the set of various airlift missions. Among other things we can do single ship airdrop, cooperate with air tankers and do operations with Night Vision Goggles. However there are still limitations to our capability in the most demanding operational scenarios. Now our post-FOC challenge is to build and train this capability”, Rombouts said.
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