Group Awarded Humanitarian Airlift Mission of the Year

The Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) presented its Berlin Airlift Veterans Association (BAVA) Humanitarian Airlift Mission of the Year Award to the 14th Airlift Squadron at 2023’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference. The award was presented by General Mike Minihan, Commander of Air Mobility Command, to 437th Airlift Wing Commander Colonel Sam “Lurch” Todd, who accepted the honor on behalf of his deployed squadron.

The 14th Airlift Squadron is assigned to the 437th Operations Group, 437th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina. The squadron distinguished itself by exceptionally meritorious service in providing immediate humanitarian aid and disaster relief to Pakistan over a seven-day period, during which squadron-members executed no fewer than 16 missions, transporting upwards of twenty-million-pounds of humanitarian supplies.

The 14th Airlift Squadron flew the first U.S. mission into Begum Nusrat Bhutto Sukkur Airport since 2010, navigating unfamiliar airspace and operating into and out of a difficult airfield for purpose of providing lifesaving sustainment for some 33-million Pakistanis.

Founded in 1989 by veterans of the Berlin Blockade and the Airlift necessitated by such, the Berlin Airlift Veterans Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to commemorating the heroic efforts of the military and civilian personnel by whom the Berlin Airlift was conceived of and executed. The Association strives to establish programs conducive to the enhancement of friendship and understanding between the people of Germany and those of the Second World War’s allied nations.

The staff of Aero-News Network congratulates the members of the 14th Airlift Squadron.

FMI: http://berlinairliftveteransassociation.org