AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy -- This week’s Wyvern Warrior Team of the Week is Capt. Brian Lee, 56th Rescue Squadron flight commander, and Staff Sgt. Caranda Gerke, 56th RQS weapons and tactics NCOIC.
These two individuals were hand selected for a short notice deployment to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey to augment the 39th Operations Support Squadron in support of Turkish humanitarian relief efforts.
“We’re the only rescue unit in Europe,” said Gerke. “It offers many opportunities to go to different countries and integrate with the operations there.”
The team assisted in the development of flight schedules for Turkish and American helicopter forces, direct cargo movements, and acted as liaison between Turkish and American rotary wing elements. They also integrated directly with the Turkish Joint Operations Center and Joint Task Force to help establish procedures for accurate sortie counts and cargo movement accountability.
“Working with the Turkish military was an honor and pleasure, they were very respectful and welcoming,” said Lee. “We had a very good, pleasant experience trying to bridge the gap between them and Americans.”
Great job, 56th RQS deployment team!