Lajes Airmen impact mission at Naval Station Rota

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jimmy McGuffin
  • Detachment 6, Air Force News Agency
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain (AFNEWS) --  Helping with the war effort doesn't always mean Airmen have to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Naval Station Rota in Spain houses an average of 50 Airmen who are on temporary duty from bases throughout U.S. Air Forces in Europe who are fighting the war on terrorism by supporting the Air Force's mobility mission.

Airmen from Air Mobility Command squadrons travel to Rota on a rotating basis throughout the year.

Senior Airman Stephanie Tepidino, a crew chief assigned to the 729th Air Mobility Squadron at Lajes Field, Azores, made the trip to Spain before the New Year. She said it was big change when it comes to the workload.

"We don't get much traffic for C-5 (Galaxys) and C-17 (Globemaster IIIs) out that way," she said. "This TDY has let me work (on) other aircraft and get the training and hands-on experience that (being stationed at) Lajes can't provide simply because of the airflow."

Rota's flightline receives a higher volume of aircraft than Lajes, and it gives Airman Tepidino an opportunity to work with a number of planes headed downrange and into the war zone.

"I enjoy that I'm part of the fight," she said. "I like the feeling of accomplishment I get when I go home at the end of the day covered with grease and know I did something good that day."

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