Apparently a base in Romania will replace it.

https://www.airforcet...mania-next-year

That's outside of Mamaia...

Well that's a major step up from Kyrgyzstan.

Which was a major step up from K2.

Well that's a major step up from Kyrgyzstan.

The AF will make it suck. It'll be tent city, no alcohol, $3.50/day, and only going off base after a full rectal and a polygraph to get back on. Kind of like how awesome Alcatraz must have been for the inmates. SF close enough to smell it...

All true, that thought crossed my mind after I made that comment, but a) it doesn't stink like manas b) the food will probably be better (especially the produce) c) it's not the desert. Going off base is really only for the non-flyers at manas anyways.

Check it out on Google Maps Street View.

https://maps.google....,348.13,,0,7.32

It will still probably be run as poorly as Manas is. Although it's tough to get much worse than Manas, only place to go is up! Looks like I'll miss it by a couple months

Krygyzstan Women

Romanian Women

The ADVON team will have their work cutout for them. Smokin' hot chicks and ferraris... a lot will have to change before we are deployable. They'll have to ship in a bunch of those rocks from bagram and kill off all that green grass.

CENTCOM AOR = 3 beers, GO-1, PT Gear, etc.

EUCOM AOR = ?

From Allied Force to Unified Protector...I've never experienced a booze restriction when deployed to a EUCOM operation. I never did Northern Watch, but I have heard the squadron bar stories.

Now for the shocking part...we managed to get the mission done.

Krygyzstan Women

Romanian Women

Oh yeah, and this.

Edited October 19, 201312 yr by Scooter14

Constant, Romania, 30 min from the base with nice beaches and looks like pretty good night life.

Honest question from a pointy-nose guy---what does a base this far from Afg/the middle east buy us?

Honest question from a pointy-nose guy---what does a base this far from Afg/the middle east buy us?

Buys us getting out of Afghanistan, maybe? One can hope!

Honest question from a pointy-nose guy---what does a base this far from Afg/the middle east buy us?

Without Manas that means all -135 ops are on a single runway. If the Deid shut down for some reason Manas + Dafra could be a band-aid fix. It's also a stretch for Deid based tankers to get up north and still have a reasonable amount to offload.

Manas was also a huge staging point for ground pounders going in and out of the country. It's where they would swap from a charter jet to a C-17 to get into country.

Edited October 19, 201312 yr by StoleIt

Without Manas that means all -135 ops are on a single runway. If the Deid shut down for some reason Manas + Dafra could be a band-aid fix. It's also a stretch for Deid based tankers to get up north and still have a reasonable amount to offload.

Manas was also a huge staging point for ground pounders going in and out of the country. It's where they would swap from a charter jet to a C-17 to get into country.

I'm pretty sure he knows what Manas is for. He's asking what Romania gets us and I have the same questions. It seems pretty damn far from Afghanistan. I would think it means significantly reduced time in the AOR for tankers, and C-17s will have to do all the lifting that used to be shared with Herks. I haven't looked at the official distance yet, but I doubt a C-130 can make it that far.

I give it less than 6 months before the AF suck the fun out of that place.

2300 vs 700nm

Enjoy the easy ATP hours.

2300 vs 700nm

Enjoy the easy ATP hours.

Is that on approved diplomatic routing, or just a straight shot? A Herk can do that, but it's obviously not ideal. I hope the Army guys crammed in like sardines in the back enjoy the 8 hour flight.

Bucharest has been a stopping point for all my C-130 deployments recently. I think it's a one hop to Bagram.

Edit: I may have been mistaken. I think we gas in Georgia. I can't f'n remember. It's all a blur.

I thought the guys going to Romania were stopping for gas somewhere, but I could be wrong.

The AF will make it suck. It'll be tent city, no alcohol, $3.50/day, and only going off base after a full rectal and a polygraph to get back on. Kind of like how awesome Alcatraz must have been for the inmates. SF close enough to smell it...

Based on the brief that a soon to be deploying sqd has received, all of the above is currently how it is. PT gear on base as well. At least they were getting partial periderm on our previous rotation.

Without Manas that means all -135 ops are on a single runway. If the Deid shut down for some reason Manas + Dafra could be a band-aid fix. It's also a stretch for Deid based tankers to get up north and still have a reasonable amount to offload.

Manas was also a huge staging point for ground pounders going in and out of the country. It's where they would swap from a charter jet to a C-17 to get into country.

I find this also funny considering we just shut down Turkey, I have no SA on the pros and cons of operating out of LTAG are but at least we already have a base there.

ETA: shutdown as in C-17 deployments.

Edited October 19, 201312 yr by Fuzz

I find this also funny considering we just shut down Turkey, I have no SA on the pros and cons of operating out of LTAG are but at least we already have a base there.

ETA: shutdown as in C-17 deployments.

Turkey has very strict requirements with regards to cargo (advanced notification requirements).

Romania is all about Logistics. Not everything flows via air.

I imagine it also has to do with less ass-pain/red tape for cargo movements. Ref Turkey and how they were.

I'd also guess A/R support for airlift between Afgh. and Ramstein/Spang.

I'd also guess A/R support for airlift between Afgh. and Ramstein/Spang.

I'd be VERY surprised if that ever happens.

I'd be VERY surprised if that ever happens.

Two. Maybe a small tanker det but I think that's a big maybe.

Why? It used to happen all the time, with -135s out of Incirlik. We (C-17)'d be heavy going in or out and needed the support, or a pit stop somewhere.

Edited October 20, 201312 yr by Clayton Bigsby

Why?

There is no rush to get stuff home + tankers cost $ + ER configured C-17s + air is not the only way to get stuff home = stopover in Romania.

That's my guess.