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Deployment invigorates historian's pride in tradition, history

SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - -- As a historian, I am aware of the influence history has on our present actions and attitudes and on our pathways for the future. During my recent deployment to Manas Air Base, Kyrgyz Republic, the Airmen of the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing knew their past and embraced it.

I arrived at Manas only knowing that I had a huge mission to accomplish--to build a history program where none existed before. My first goal was to learn the history of the wing. In completing this task, I brought the history of the 376th AEW to the men and women--active, Reserve, Guard, civilians and contractors--of the wing.

The 376th AEW, like the 50th Space Wing, traces its honors to World War II. During that global conflict, the 376th Bombardment Group, Heavy became one of the most decorated bomber units in North Africa and Europe. The unit participated in numerous raids against the oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania, including the famed Aug. 1, 1943, low-level raid as well as other important battles. For their bravery and efforts, the unit earned three distinguished unit citations.

Since December 2001, the 376th AEW has operated from Manas, serving as the premier air mobility hub and the only northern access to Afghanistan and Operation Enduring Freedom. Its aerial port operations support U.S., coalition, and International Security Assistance Force personnel and cargo heading "downrange," while the support units and agencies provide world class warrior care to deploying and redeploying personnel and to the base's assigned population.

I witnessed the personnel assigned to these units, and those assigned to the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, setting numerous records during my deployment. Fuels specialists set and reset records for fuel transfers to the wing's air fleet, while air crews established new records for fuel offloads to receivers, exceeding one million pounds of fuel offload on seven days.

Clearly, these accomplishments continued the tradition of excellence and self-sacrifice in the face of adversity. Men and women of the 376th AEW displayed a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves and brought that to their daily tasks. ..
Read entire article at Randy Saunders, 50th Space Wing Historian, writing at the website of http://www.schriever.af.mil