Nineteen airmen from the 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany, joined more than 1,000 allied servicemen in commemorating 1944’s Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne assault in history. Three of the unit’s C-130J’s teamed with British, Dutch, and German aircraft on Sept. 18 to deliver 700 US, British, Dutch, Polish, and—paradoxically—German paratroopers near the Dutch city of Eindhoven. That was the spot where allied troops landed 66 years ago as part of the failed attempt to punch through to Berlin and hasten the end of the European war. The re-enactment drew nearly 40,000 spectators. “It was neat to be part of something that big and remembering those people who sacrificed so much,” said Capt. Brent Gaylord, 37th AS commander. Interestingly, the 37th AS, then called the 37th Troop Carrier Squadron, flew C-47s during Market Garden. (Eindhoven report, by SSgt. Markus Maier) (See BBC backgrounder for history of Operation Market Garden.)
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.