AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy (USAFENS) – Aviano Air Base, Italy, once again became the home to the headquarters of the 16th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force April 17, when 43 members of the staff returned here from a three-week deployment to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey.

The arrival marked the beginning of the redeployment of the 180-person staff, which exercises administrative control over U.S. Air Force personnel and resources supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom in the U.S. European Command area of responsibility. The remainder of the staff is expected to return to Aviano or other home stations later this month.

The staff's primary role in OIF thus far has been coordinating the beddown and support of more than 4,700 personnel and 100 aircraft at seven bases in six countries.

Gen. Gregory S. Martin, commander of United States Air Forces in Europe, made the trip to Aviano to welcome home the deployees and recognize the base's broader contributions to OIF.

"It wasn't exactly the way we intended it, but it didn't matter to the folks who went down range," Martin said, referring to the task force's original mandate to stand up additional expeditionary bases in Turkey. "They set the (remaining) bases up for force structure and did exactly what we wanted them to do."

To date, 16th AETF units have flown more than 1,800 sorties in support of OIF. Among the task force's major achievements, the 457th Air Expeditionary Group has flown more than 100 B-52 combat sorties against Iraqi regime targets, including the first use of the Litening II precision targeting pod on that aircraft. Aerial refueling missions flown by the task force's units have passed approximately 100 million pounds of aircraft fuel to support coalition air operations. An AETF unit in Eastern Europe continues to serve as a key transit point for military and humanitarian relief operations headed to Iraq.

The majority of the staff relocated to Incirlik March 26, where they adopted the name and mission of Combined Air Forces North, coordinating the operations of coalition air forces in and above European and NATO countries for U.S. Central Command's Combined Forces Air Component Commander, Lt. Gen. T. Michael Moseley. Close coordination on thousands of OIF overflights of Turkey, which granted permission after extensive political and diplomatic negotiations last month, and the simultaneous redeployment of approximately 50 aircraft and associated personnel assigned to Operation Northern Watch necessitated the move from Aviano to Incirlik.

The move back to Aviano reunites the deployees with another 48 16th AETF staff members who remained at the base to provide continuity and work logistical and mission support issues essential to sustaining OIF operations.

To accomplish the task force's mission, approximately 80 active duty and Reserve personnel deployed to augment the core staff of 100 personnel assigned to Headquarters, 16th Air Force.

The staff was divided into five directorates supporting major functions -manpower/personnel, intelligence, operations, logistics and communications -plus coalition and sister-service liaison officers and staff members providing advice on legal, public affairs, political, safety and force protection issues. A separate Northern Operations Center provided the staff with a "window on the war" to facilitate real-time coordination of operations.

Though the staff can take great pride in its role in bringing an end to the regime of Saddam Hussein, the 16th AETF commander, Lt. Gen. Glen W. Moorhead III, emphasized that the staff has important work ahead.

Moorhead said that, in addition to supporting continued air operations aimed at providing humanitarian relief and ensuring a peaceful transition to democratic rule in Iraq, the staff will be involved in redeploying the task force's expeditionary units and other OIF forces through the European theater.

-- USAFENS --