JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, New Jersey -- The U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command leadership team visited the 87th Air Base Wing and 305th Air Mobility Wing, in addition to other units, to recognize Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst personnel who were key to evacuating the Kabul airport and setting up Liberty Village Sept. 8.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, AMC commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Brian Kruzelnick, AMC command chief, recognized 20 service members for their contributions and learned about how their units provide support locally for the on-going missions.
“If you’re part of AMC, you know we deliver hope. That’s what’s happening out there,” Kruzelnick said about Liberty Village. “People left everything they had behind [to come here] and now we’re supporting them and welcoming them into a new life that is potentially better than what they left; and not only for them, but for generations to come. You’re setting that now today.”
The mobility Airmen supported the largest noncombatant evacuation operation in United States history, according to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III. Their efforts contributed to the airlift and humanitarian aid that evacuated 6,000 Americans and more than 124,000 Afghan civilians over the course of 17 days.
“As Mobility Warriors, we used all four of our mission sets: our operations and contingency response teams, our planners (air mobility support), our airlift, refueling and aeromedical evacuation,” Van Ovost said. “It really was a team effort.”
This was the AMC leadership team’s first trip to JB MDL since the last U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III departed Kabul and the joint base was announced as a designated location for housing thousands of vulnerable Afghans stateside.
Van Ovost expressed her appreciation for the joint base member's and their extraordinary efforts and resourcefulness during the last month of mobility operations.
“You made us really proud,” Van Ovost added. “This is historic and you will always be a part of the success of this operation.”