JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas –
The 433rd Airlift Wing at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland hosted two representatives from the Jagello 2000 Association, a Czech Republic organization focused on public diplomacy in the field of security policy and membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Jan. 25, 2022.
Jagello 2000 leads projects to raise awareness among the general public about transatlantic relations and policies; one of which is the coordination of the annual NATO Days in Ostrava and Czech Air Force Days at Ostrava Leoš Janáček Airport, Czech Republic.
For NATO Days 2022, Jagello 2000 Association CEO and co-founder Zbyněk Pavlačík and Senior Project Director Petr Zlatohlávek visited the 433rd AW to further familiarize with the unit’s mission and foster international relations with wing members.
“We wanted to express our appreciation and thanks for the wing’s engagement to our events,” Pavlačík said. “We’ve had the privilege to showcase the wing’s mighty C-5 twice; once in 2019 and then last year in 2021. So we’re here to discuss possibilities of cooperation for upcoming years.”
The NATO Days in Ostrava and Czech Air Force Days event lays claim as the largest security show in Europe. For last year’s event, a C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft was flown on Sept. 13, 2021, and opened up for public display by aircrew and maintenance Reserve Citizen Airmen Sept. 18-19, 2021.
Maj. Peter Anderson, 433rd Operations Support Squadron chief of current operations, helped coordinate the 433rd AW’s participation in the event, along with the safe transport of two Marine Corps helicopters and an Air Force MQ-9 Reaper.
“It’s important to showcase the capabilities of our wing by providing reliable C-5M Super Galaxy mission support, along with knowledgeable and experienced air and maintenance crews,” Anderson said.
Anderson and other wing members also went out into the local community on three different occasions to engage with students, learn about their culture and offer their knowledge and experience as military members in the U.S. Air Force.
According to Anderson, 433rd AW leadership and Jagello 2000 Association representatives are hopeful about the wing’s participation in this year’s NATO Days in Ostrava and Czech Air Force Days event.
“To strengthen our relationship with NATO partners and showing commitment in the years to come symbolizes what the Alamo Wing is all about,” Anderson said.