EMBASSY EVENTS 2009

USAF C-130 Delivers Load of Gifts for Polish Children

28 January 2009

Ambassador Ashe with Brigadier Gen. William Bender and the children [photo gallery].

A U.S. Air Force C-130 military aircraft landed Wednesday morning, January 28 at Warsaw’s Okęcie Airport delivering an unusual cargo – a truckload of gifts from the Kaiserslautern Military Community for the “My House-My Future” Orphanage in Słupsk. U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Victor Ashe, thanked the 86th Airlift Wing, represented at Okęcie by Brigadier Gen William Bender, Wing Commander, for this special delivery.  “We are thrilled to be able to present these toys, books, and clothes to the children of the Orphanage in Słupsk,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to see so many smiling faces.”   Ambassador Ashe extended a special greeting to the three children present at the event: Angelika Iwańska, Mateusz Stencel, and Patryk Kubik, who celebrated his 12th birthday on that day. The C-130 aircraft delivering the gifts is operated by the 86th Airlift Wing, and is the same model as the five C-130Es Polish Air Force will obtain from the United States in a joint effort to enhance Poland’s ability to conduct military supply operations within Poland as well as support the NATO coalition, international peacekeeping and disaster relief missions.

This effort works toward the larger, ongoing program of increasing interoperability of the Polish Air Force and the entire Polish military, an endeavor in which the United States is a determined partner.  “Having American and Polish military working together today and tomorrow here in Poland gives us confidence that in the future, we can successfully cooperate, wherever in the world this may be necessary,” said Ambassador Ashe. After the gift donation ceremony, the C-130 flew to Powidz for military-to-military demonstrations and returned to Warsaw later in the afternoon.  Powidz Air Base (near Gniezno) will be the location of the Polish Air Force C-130 aircraft.  Ground crews there had a chance to observe USAF standard maintenance procedures and the aircrew could witness a low-level flight in Polish airspace as well as follow mission flight planning on the same computer systems that Poland will be receiving.

The delegation from Słupsk included Anna Sadlak, Deputy Director, Education Department, Malwina Noetzel, Press Department, Anna Antonowicz, Subinspector, Promotion and European Integration Office, and Klaudiusz Dyjas, Director of “My House-My Future” Orphanage.