From the Eifel to Afghanistan Published Sept. 2, 2008 By Translated by 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- TV series of stories "American way of Eifel," part 2 - the mission of the 52nd Fighter Wing Reprinted with permission from Trierischer Volksfreund, Weekend Bernkastel/Wittlich Edition, 23/24 Aug 08 Reporter Katharina Hammermann People residing in the communities around the base see and hear the American fighter jets as they take off and land. But, where do they go, where do they come from and what is their mission? This is a short overview of the 52nd Fighter Wing and its mission. The oil painting, hanging on the wall at the wing conference center shows a man with an oxygen mask... the reporter describes the painting in a poetic way ... Seek, attack, destroy What may sound odd to civilian visitors is everyday business for the Spangdahlem Airmen; it is the official motto of the 52nd Fighter Wing: Seek, Attack, Destroy. The wing, which supports NATO missions, has a contingency of about 42 F-16 aircraft, 18 A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft and two mobile radars. The Airmen symbolically call themselves "Sabers." One of their main duties is the suppression of enemy air defense with the support of F-16 aircraft. The so-called Wild Weasel mission is to suppress early-warning surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery radar. The reporter describes the wing mission with details, using information from our wing fact sheets and the wing mission briefing. After 9/11 and when the war against terror first started, the men and women of "Team Eifel," the 52nd Fighter Wing, deployed to Afghanistan to support operation "Enduring Freedom" with A-10 aircraft. According to statements by the 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office, the A-10s were also protecting German military forces there. Contingencies from Spangdahlem Air Base are continuously deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq. At the moment there are no major deployments from the wing there. Next, the reporter describes the mission of the 606th Air Control Squadron with information from our wing fact sheet. The reporter writes that Spangdahlem also adopted part of the mobility airlift mission previously assigned to Rhein-Main Air Base and briefly describes the 726th Air Control Squadron. This squadron supports the mobility mission and provides support for C-17 and C-5 (heavy) transport aircraft. The wing also supports humanitarian missions on a regular basis. The Americans are among us, we meet them on shopping sprees in the local community or at local discos in the evening - but how the more than 10,000 American citizens live and what they do - only a few people seem to know. With the TV-series "American way of Eifel," the Trierischer Volksfreund gets to take a look over the fence of the American military airbase - looking at cultural differences, the military mission and into American shopping carts.