910 AW joins 38 EAS for Joint Enterprise Published Oct. 19, 2009 By Master Sgt. Bob Barko Jr. and Senior Airman Brenda Haines 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Citizen Airmen from the Air Force Reserve's 910th Airlift Wing, based at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, have joined forces with Servicemembers from across the United States including Niagara, N.Y., Savannah, Ga., and St. Joseph, Mo., and Colorado Springs, Co., to form the 38th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. The 38th EAS, operating out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany, was formed to support airlift mission requirements in the U.S. Europe Command (EUROCOM), U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) theaters of operations. C-130 Hercules tactical cargo transport aircraft from the various wings comprising the 38th are currently responsible for 95 percent of the airlift capability in Europe and Africa, said Lt. Col. Richard McGough, assigned to the Arkansas Air National Guard. Colonel McGough is also the acting Operations Group commander for the 86th Operations Group, based at Ramstein. "The reason for these missions is to improve relationships with the other countries," said Lt. Col. Rick Richard, 38th EAS commander. Colonel Richard is also assigned to the Arkansas Air National Guard. Aircraft flight crews, maintenance personnel and support staff are working together to launch and recover a stream of C-130s traveling to and from a variety of destinations including Bosnia, Israel, Turkey, Afghanistan, Moldova, Georgia, Djibouti and Italy. The 910th Airlift Wing is scheduled to support the airlift missions, part of Operation Joint Enterprise (OJE), by sending four rotations of aircraft and supporting personnel between the end of September and beginning of December 2009. OJE grew out of an operation to fly troops and supplies into Bosnia-Herzegovina in the mid-1990s, and was later expanded to include support of missions across Europe, Africa and the Central Command. Lt. Col. Ted Majia, assigned to the Air Force Reserve's 773rd Airlift Squadron, acted as the mission commander, for Rotation "A" from YARS said despite many of the assigned personnel becoming sick, mostly due to extreme climate changes, that they were able to complete their taskings. "We got all of our missions accomplished even though many of our folks were sick," said Colonel Majia. Rotation "A" from YARS flew missions to Turkey, Afghanistan and the United Kingdom and completed its work as a second group of YARS Citizen Airmen hit the ground in Germany on October 14, 2009. More than 70 Servicemembers based in Northeast Ohio have made the journey to Europe so far to support the Joint Enterprise airlift missions. The second rotation of Airmen, officially known as Rotation "B," are scheduled to complete airlift missions to locations in eastern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East. Lt. Col. Ken Saunders, Rotation "B" mission commander and commander of the 757th Airlift Squadron, based at YARS, said the veteran deployers among the personnel attached to the 38th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron would help get the job at hand completed. "The experience of our people who have been on previous rotations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East are invaluable in getting this mission done for us," said Colonel Saunders.