New Expeditionary Group Stands Up at Manas

The 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan activated the 466th Air Expeditionary Group at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, to oversee the more than 2,300 airmen serving in Afghanistan in joint expeditionary taskings or as individual augmentees. “The existence of this unit and our presence embodies and reinforces our solemn commitment to support joint expeditionary tasked airmen serving in harm’s way and we will not let them down,” said Col. John Cline who assumed command of the group during the Nov. 26 stand-up ceremony. Maj. General H.D. Polumbo, task force commander, presided over the activation. “I regularly visit our JET airmen in Afghanistan and we could not accomplish the mission without their efforts,” said Polumbo. He added, “We work hard to take care of our airmen who are serving in small pockets of excellence throughout the area of responsibility.” Manas is a major air hub for sustaining coalition combat operations in Afghanistan. The host unit there is the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing. (Manas report by SSgt. Matt Benedetti)