Carpathian Spring kicks off in Romania

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jocelyn L. Rich
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
OTOPENI, Romania (AFNS) --  More than 70 Airmen and Soldiers headed to Romania March 14, officially marking the kickoff of Carpathian Spring 2011.

The weeklong annual exercise was designed to strengthen the partnership between the U.S. and Romanian air forces, while also enhancing their individual capabilities through training scenarios that participants said are difficult to achieve at home station.

Members of the 37th Airlift Squadron, the 435th Contingency Response Group, the 86th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, the 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and the 5th Quarter Masters Battalion are among the key members involved in this year's event held at Airlift Base Otopeni and Campia Turzii, Romania.

The first day of flying missions from Otopeni couldn't have gone better. The weather was cooperative, the crews were ready to go, and Lt. Daniel Motoroui, a Romanian air force pilot who was a special guest aboard a C-130J Super Hercules, said he was excited to be flying with the Americans for the first time.

"I am really looking forward to this; the weather is perfect," the lieutenant said. "I think we are going to fly over the village where I am from today."

Lieutenant Motoroui is a MiG 21 pilot who recently changed airframe specialties to the C-130.

"I have not flown one (C-130) yet; I am still in training," he said.

However, he has been flying with the Romanian air force for 12 years.

When asked how long he has been in the air force, he said, "I was born in the air force," because he comes from a long line of air force tradition.

"My grandfather was in the air force, my father is in the air force, and so was my uncle," he said.

Lieutenant Motoroui joined 37th AS members Capt. Justin Gripp and 1st Lt. Cory Killian on their mission from Airlift Base Otopeni to accomplish low-level flying through the Carpathian Mountains to Campia Turzii.

Once there, they picked up Romanian paratroopers and U.S. jumpmasters to perform a personnel drop over a landing zone nearby.

"It is always good to be able to interfly with other countries even though there are some unique challenges," said Captain Gripp of the minor differences due to procedures and language barriers.

Due to the combination of the weather, the skills of those involved and the overall cooperation, the mission was a success, according to participants.

"The mission today was very good," said Col. Edward Watson, a 37th AS pilot and the deployed commander for the exercise. "We met all of the Romanian objectives today and got all of the jumpers out safely."