JAKARTA - The Air Force commander who helped oversee the latest withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, detailed the historic experience of how troops spent three hours quickly loading several military aircraft, the final mission on the country's longest battlefield.
Lieutenant Colonel Alex Pelbath, mission commander of the last five US military aircraft to leave Afghanistan, told CNN in an interview a total of 18 missions were carried out during the dynamic evacuation process, with him being on the last plane to leave the country on Monday. then.
"I have a whole picture of a C-17 troop in front of me," Pelbath said, referring to the sight he had aboard the last military plane to leave Afghanistan.
"Definitely a picture I'll never forget. And I would say the moment I saw was, I can't believe it's actually here," he quivered.
"Those five planes, between the landing of the first plane and the last plane departing, was three hours. My particular jet was on the ground for only about an hour and 15 minutes, maybe an hour and a half," he said.
The comments from Pelbath provide new insight into the final hours of the US's 20-year war, coming as officials grapple with how exactly they will scrutinize the dramatic final days of the conflict.
US troops rushed to evacuate Afghan Americans and Allies in a nearly month-long episode that turned violent, when a terrorist attack at Kabul airport killed 13 US service members.
Asked about the tragic incident and whether it affected him while he was working on an evacuation mission, Pelbath said: "No, the danger didn't affect him at all. In fact, what you focus on is the plan."
"We have an amazing plan there," he said, noting his team had spent several days in Kabul putting it together.
"Instead of focusing on danger, what all operators do is you focus on the mission you're getting. So you focus on your individual task, you focus on success and you focus on doing your part of the mission and you probably can."
The mission had personal meaning to Pelbath. His grandparents were Hungarian refugees who fled to Austria in 1957, where they boarded a military flight to the US as part of 'Operation Safe Haven'. The flight was based in Charleston, South Carolina, where Pelbath is currently headquartered.
Pelbath, who graduated from the Air Force Academy shortly before the 9/11 attacks and said his career revolved around Afghanistan, described the evacuation mission as "the toughest three weeks of anyone's life."
"I mean not just flying every day, but doing what we do, I know it takes a lot of lives. There are a lot of people who, I think, have an emotional attachment to Afghanistan," he said bitterly.
Pelbath also detailed the orders he gave as the final evacuation mission was about to be completed, saying when he got the 'OK' from Major General Chris Donahue, Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, he gave the 'scallop shell' orders for the five planes to close the doors and start. glided down the runway of Kabul airport.
"As soon as all the planes reported to me that they were ready to take off, General Donahue gave a thumbs up. We issued a 'flush the force' call and it was code for all of us to start walking on the runway to then take off. And then all five planes took off in a row. on the order of 30 seconds, so dispatching all planes in less than three minutes," he concluded.
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