Crews at Joint Base Charleston have helped transport Army soldiers and vehicles to Afghanistan to assist with evacuations following the Taliban takeover earlier this week.
Images dated Aug. 14 and released by the Department of Defense show soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in North Carolina preparing to load onto buses to head to Joint Base Charleston.
Later that day, paratroopers made it onto the runway at Charleston Air Force Base and began loading up in C-17s to fly out to Hamid Karzai International Airport.
"The 82nd Airborne soldiers were deployed to the Middle East in response to the Immediate Response Force activation by the Pentagon in order to move U.S. military personnel to the Middle East to help provide for the safe and secure movement of U.S. citizens, Special Immigration Visa recipients, and vulnerable Afghan populations from Afghanistan," the Pentagon said with the photo release.
Images dated Aug. 16 show airmen from the 437th Aerial Port Squadron directing vehicles into the back of C-17s in Charleston.
Air Force airmen from the 437th Aerial Port Squadron secure a vehicle in a C-17 Globemaster III at Joint Base Charleston on Aug. 16, 2021. The Air Force moved troops and equipment to aid the safe departure and relocation of U.S. citizens, Special Immigration Visa recipients, and vulnerable Afghan populations from Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Christian Sullivan/U.S. Air Force
Previously, Joint Base Charleston would not confirm its involvement with the Afghanistan evacuations citing "operational security" risks. After the photos were publicly released by the Pentagon, base officials confirmed involvement with the mission.
Joint Base Charleston's involvement with Afghanistan evacuations was expected. With one of the largest contingents of C-17s in the country, shipping thousands of pounds of equipment and troops to the region and helping evacuate thousands of refugees is well within its capabilities.
South Carolina’s presence in Afghanistan has stretched decades. In total, 41 service members from the Palmetto State have died in Afghanistan since U.S. boots touched the ground in 2001, according to a review of data from Military Times and iCasualties.org.
Additionally, five graduates from The Citadel who didn’t originally hail from South Carolina perished doing their duty in the Afghan region.
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August 19, 2021 at 10:30PM
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Joint Base Charleston crews load troops, vehicles onto C-17s to aid Afghanistan evacuations - Charleston Post Courier
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