Swedish air force 1st Lt. Urban Lundberg, Bulgarian air force Sgt. Hristo Gyurov and Netherlands air force Cpl. Jergen Van Beek load a pallet onto a C-17 Globemaster III. Lundberg is a loadmaster, and Gyurov and Jergen are aerial porters.
Sitting in a small outdoor café, Tech. Sgt. Brian Robisky sips a cappuccino and watches the people around him. A group of girls walks by, talking loudly, laughing and gesturing. Across the street, an elderly gentleman stands in the doorway of his little bakery, waiting for the next customer as he puffs slowly on a thin cigarette. A man pedals the other way on a bicycle, a large loaf of bread and some other groceries balanced in a small basket attached to the bike’s handlebars.
In the distance, church bells begin ringing, signifying the day is drawing to a close. The clanging and chiming reverberates through the town’s streets and alleys.
This is life in Pápa, Hungary, a small town located close to the northern edge of the Bakony Hills and, for Robisky, what is now home.
He’s often mistaken as a tourist – his clothes, demeanor and language all identify him as an American – but Robisky has been in Pápa for more than three years now, and while he can claim he lives a small town life, the scope of his work is enormous.
A mission of many
Staff Sgt. Justin Van Scheffel and Tech. Sgt. Brian Robisky walk to lunch through the “walking street” in downtown Papa, Hungary. U.S. Airmen have become a common sight in Papa since the air base was selected to host the operational arm of the Strategic Airlift Capability program. The initial cadre of the Heavy Airlift Wing arrived to Papa in October 2008.
Robisky is part of the Strategic Airlift Capability program, a multinational mission in Hungary that uses C-17 Globemaster IIIs to take cargo and equipment to the military effort in Afghanistan and to bases throughout the Middle East. The wing has also flown missions in support of humanitarian relief activities in Haiti and Pakistan and the peacekeeping mission in Africa.
Operating out of Pápa Air Base, the international unit is called the Heavy Airlift Wing, and is the first non-NATO unit of its kind. Twelve partner nations — the U.S., Norway, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and Hungary — combined their money and resources to purchase three C-17s and then fly, maintain and schedule the aircraft as a team. How often a nation gets to use the C-17s to move cargo depends on how much money that country gave toward the aircraft purchase.
“It’s sort of like a timeshare for airplanes,” said Master Sgt. Tim Dube, the HAW’s maintenance supervisor. “One mission might be for Poland and the next may be for Norway. It just depends on who needs what and when.”
No matter what country the mission is for, each is performed by a mix of aircrews from any of the involved nations.
This is important, added Dube, as it shows how so many nations are able to work together to accomplish an important mission: Moving cargo where it’s needed, when it’s needed.
Moving cargo is something Robisky is familiar with. He’s the superintendent of the aerial port section of the HAW, and he spends his days ensuring the unit’s C-17s are loaded before they take off and unloaded when they land.
It’s a job he’s done throughout his Air Force career, but at Pápa AB, it’s a whole new ball game.
Aerial porters assigned to the Heavy Airlift Wing work alongside their Hungarian air force counterparts to build pallets for an upcoming resupply mission to Afghanistan.
“The section here has about 14 people and only five are U.S. guys,” he said. “So, when you’re working with not just one, but several other nations and they all are used to doing things a certain way, it takes a lot more communication and patience to get things done.”
Robisky has been stationed at Pápa AB since the small base was first activated, and he wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Calling the base a “unique assignment,” Robisky added it’s a great experience and the U.S. service members aren’t just teaching the foreign military members, but are also learning from them.
“You really get to see another side to what we do,” Robisky said. “And we know that what we’re doing is making a real impact on other parts of the world. We’re not just moving cargo, we’re building relationships.”
The airlift mission is constant at Pápa AB. In August, the base reached 8,000 flight hours, 80 percent of which were flown in support of operations in the Middle East.
“It really takes a combined effort by everyone here to get the job done,” said Dutch Cpl. Jergen Van Beek, a member of the Netherlands contingent at Pápa AB. “It’s really like no place else. You can have a plane flown by a Swedish pilot that has a Bulgarian aircrew and is transporting Finnish cargo. It’s really a great example of multinational cooperation.”
U.S. Airmen conduct the majority of training, which ensures all nations involved are learning the same principles of airlift and cargo management and delivery.
“If everyone is on the same page, then this makes working together that much easier,” Dube said. “And it allows us to share our knowledge with other nations that have never used a plane like the C-17 before.”
This cooperation extends beyond training and working together. By pooling their money to purchase the C-17s, this allows nations that otherwise would not be able to afford such a large aircraft on their own to have access to the Globemaster’s unique airlift capabilities.
“Ultimately, that’s what this base is all about,” Dube said. “It’s pooling resources and manpower to accomplish a mission that benefits everyone.”
Dependents on economy
Staff Sgt. Chris McIntosh and his wife, Amanda, shop for baby items at a local shop in Papa, Hungary. The McIntosh’s are expecting their first child during their three-year accompanied assignment to Papa AB.
At Pápa AB, everyone includes family members. Airmen can take their families with them if they desire, but there is no base support — no on-base housing, no commissary, no base exchange, not even an on base gas station. Airmen and their families are totally dependent on the local economy.
“It’s quite a culture shock when you first get here,” said Amanda MacIntosh, whose husband, Chris, works in supply on the base and has lived in Pápa for eight months. “You have to buy your groceries in town, rent a house from a local Hungarian landlord and you’re basically immersed in the local culture from day one.”
Medical care is also performed at local hospitals and medical centers. The base only offers basic flight medicine services.
For Amanda, this is a big deal because she’s eight months pregnant.
“A few weeks before my due date, I’ll be going to Aviano Air Base, Italy,” she said. “And I’ll stay there for six or eight weeks because the medical care is better there.”
Challenges like this aside, most Airmen and their families like the remoteness and cultural infusion the assignment offers. The families rely on each other more, and this creates an atmosphere of closeness and togetherness that can be missing from large bases.
“Are there more challenges here? Of course,” said Reba Cole, the USAF school liaison officer at Pápa AB. “But there are also a lot of opportunities and experiences you can have here that you won’t get anywhere else.”
Team Pápa
Opportunity is a theme at Pápa AB. As the first base of its kind, Airmen here are offered the chance to do many things other Airmen aren’t. Things like teaching, leading and training service members from partner nations, living in a historically significant town in Hungary and being part of a unique mission that could become the template for how allied nations operate in the future.
“This place can be exciting and frustrating, but at the end of the day, it’s always rewarding,” Dube said. “In fact, many of the people who get stationed here end up extending once or twice because they don’t want to leave.”
For Robisky, it is time to go. The bells have stopped ringing and the streets are becoming less and less crowded as people head home for the evening. Tomorrow will be a busy day with cargo to move and planes to fill.