EMBASSY EVENTS 2009

Brigadier General William Bender Visits Ambassador Ashe

3 February 2009

Brigadier General William Bender Visits Ambassador Ashe

Brigadier General William Bender, commander of the 86th Air Wing at Ramstein Air Base Germany, visited U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Victor Ashe, as part of a larger European Command and U.S. Air Forces in Europe visit to Poland.  The 86th Air Wing flies the C-130E aircraft, similar to the model to be received by Poland in 2009.  The opening activity of this visit was a delivery of toys and other gifts collected by the Kaiserslautern Military Community 5/6 Organization to the “My Home - My Future” orphanage in Słupsk.  The second part of the trip was a press event, where members of the Polish media were flown to the  Powidz Air Base, future home of the Polish C-130Es, where they participated in a question and answer session by Brigadier General Tadeusz Mikutel, 3rd Wing Commander.  The U.S. C-130 crew members demonstrated numerous aspects of C-130 operations to Polish maintenance personnel in anticipation of the arrival of their own C-130s.  The initial bridges of friendship built between Ramstein and Powidz will surely develop into a strong, cooperative relationship in the future.