Warplanes: March 13, 2005

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The U.S. Air Force has created a unit equipped to get an airbase ready to operate American aircraft. The Contingency Response Wing has troops and equipment to quickly establish security, figure out what additional equipment and facilities the airfield needs, assessment, provide medical support, command and control, and maintenance functions. The Contingency Response Wing will regularly train, by doing this at American and foreign airbases. The airbases in question can be foreign civilian or military bases provided for American use, or captured bases in a combat zone. The need for the Contingency Response Wing became obvious from experience in Afghanistan and Iraq. The air force already had units for opening new bases, but it was obvious that a unit dedicated to that function, and trained a lot for it, would be able to do the job more quickly and efficiently.