The Spanish detachment here safely moved about a dozen U.S. Air Force officers to Kabul, Afghanistan, March 3.

Manas is known as the “Gateway to Operation Enduring Freedom” because all troops moving in and out of Afghanistan stop here first to transfer to civilian or military aircraft. The Spanish detachment’s support helped expedite the effort to move an unusually large influx of troops to this base, said Lt. Suzan Whiting, personnel terminal chief here.

It also saved the officers the risk and time of riding in a convoy from Bagram to Kabul by taking them by jet directly to their destination, she said.

“We are glad we could help,” said Maj. Pedro Alfonso, detachment commander. “Without the American forces on this base, we couldn’t run our operations, and we are glad to do this in return.”

The Spanish detachment runs regular shuttles in a C-130 Hercules from here to Kabul and Herat, Afghanistan, most often carrying Spanish personnel rotating in and out of deployments to the area supporting the NATO mission of rebuilding in the western region of the country. Their secondary mission is medical airlift, which they provide when emergencies arise for Spanish personnel in Afghanistan.

The Spanish Airmen here are mostly deployed from the 31st Air Transport Wing, Saragoza, Spain, where they will return March 8 as another squadron rotates in to take over the mission.