Turkey deployment off to a good start Published May 29, 2007 By Senior Airman Mark Orders-Woempner 434th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs INCIRLIK AIR BASE, TURKEY -- More than 100 members of the 434th Air Refueling Wing arrived here recently as part of an air expeditionary deployment that will last a couple of months. Aircrews, maintainers and support staff departed Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind, at the end of April to begin performing aerial refueling missions. Leading the way on the first rotation is Lt. Col. Mark Sigler, deployment commander and Senior Master Sgt. Sandra Dye, first sergeant. The first part of the rotation was no cake walk according to the colonel, who said there were a lot of things that needed to be smoothed over. "The first several days we were here, during the change over, were very challenging, but as time went on, we settled in, adapted to the process, and smoothed everything out," he said. All told, the unit moved several aircraft and personnel from Indiana to Turkey and adapted to the operation in about five days. "Sometimes we take what we do for granted," Colonel Sigler said. "We have done this several times before, but that doesn't change the importance of that accomplishment. According to both the colonel and the first sergeant, making things work was no easy task because of the uniqueness of the unit's mission here. Not only is the mission unique, but Airmen work on a daily basis with active-duty Air Force members as well as Turkish Air Force members. This total force concept impressed both Colonel Sigler and Sergeant Dye. "We've had a very wonderful interaction with the Turkish Air Force," said the colonel. Looking back at the first rotation, they were able to fly over 30 sorties and offload more that 2.3 million pounds of fuel, he said. After all is done, the first rotation's mission was a success, he added. Sergeant Dye stated one of the reasons she felt that unit Airmen have been successful is due to their positive outlook and focus. "Everyone has taken care of each other, which is what we have really focused on," she said. That is the reason we haven't had a lot of problems and why we have been so successful." "It's good to be on a winning team; and its nice to be in a unit that is organized, committed and functions so well," Colonel Sigler said. As their rotation winds down, Colonel Sigler added that it is important for Airmen to volunteer for deployments like this one, so they can gain experience now and be leaders for tomorrow.
