Ready First Family and Friends, We have redeployed all but one flight from Afghanistan. Unfortunately, this flight has spent several extra days at Manas based on a series of maintenance problems with the aircraft. Our single most important priority is the safe return of our Soldiers. Flying an aircraft with a fuel leak would not have been smart – we are very thankful the Air Force maintenance team caught this problem on the ground and not while in flight. Once the flight was delayed and this initial maintenance fault proved to be not a small fuel leak, but what was described in the Air Force reports as a “massive fuel leak from the fuselage engine” the repair parts took longer to arrive than anticipated. This second delay caused country clearances to become an issue. Country clearances are diplomatic permissions that allow US aircraft to overfly countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Germany, and can take anywhere from three to seven days to coordinate. Once an aircraft “misses” its authorized time slot, the country clearance process must be re-started. Country clearances with Russia and Kyrgyzstan proved difficult and would have taken a full seven days. To reduce the delay our Soldiers are now being moved by military aircraft from Manas, Kyrgyzstan to Germany because it is easier and quicker to get a new country clearance from Germany. However, the use of a US Air Force C17 aircraft required multiple trips between Manas and Germany. The six hour flight times between Manas and Germany, and the required crew rest meant that only one trip per day was possible. The first turn carrying our Solders was completed 16 September, the second turn on 17 September. On 18 September, as the C17 attempted to depart Ramstein Air Base to Manas, the European Union (EU) Air Traffic Control denied its flight plan based on an administrative error. This caused an additional one day delay. Our final group of Soldiers will arrive in Ramstein 21 September. All Soldiers will then be moved to Fort Bliss via a commercial 767. We anticipate Main Body 16 arriving at Fort Bliss on 22 September. This delay has been an inconvenience – absolutely no doubt – but our Soldiers are safe and not in danger, either from the enemy in Afghanistan or a faulty aircraft. I want to personally thank those great Soldiers and Families who have shown (and shared on this page) their patience and understanding. The Ready First has received the best advice and support from the 1st Armored Division, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Air Force, and US Transportation Command (TRANSCOM). We have shared all updates with the Soldiers in Manas, our Rear Detachments, and Family Readiness Groups. Some individuals have exercised their rights to contact their Congressman, use the CG’s Hotline, or contact local media. Those are all excellent outlets to express your concerns. My wife and I have sent private messages to those most vocal asking to please call our cell phones – so far none have done so – a bit surprising based on the energy and passion some have written, but we are available to answer your concerns. Congressman O’Rourke (D-TX, 16th District), who has attended several Welcome Home ceremonies, has been kept informed of MB16’s delay. Major General MacFarland, who has attended nearly all of our Welcome Home ceremonies, has been intimately involved in resolving the delay. All we want is to keep our Families informed. Our Soldiers delay in Manas has been inconvenient, but not a tragedy. We are confident that all Soldiers will be in Germany no later than 21 September, and then will depart on a civilian aircraft to Fort Bliss arriving on 22 September. I look forward to meeting our Families at MB 16s welcome home ceremony. Ready 6
Posted on: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 18:19:21 +0000
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