The Air Officer Commanding, No 11 Group, has visited the RAF Detachment currently deployed in Romania conducting the NATO Air Policing mission.
Air-Vice Marshal Phil Robinson CBE DFC** MA RAF, visited 140 Expeditionary Air Wing which allowed him to see the accommodation and facilities the detachment are using at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase. He also met the deployed RAF personnel and Royal Engineers from the British Army who are also deployed in support of the RAF NATO Mission know as Operation BILOXI
"My intent for Operation Biloxi is to provide partnership, resilience and solidarity with our NATO partners which we as the Royal Air Force are doing all the way from the High North in northern Norway, through central Europe, and down into the Mediterranean through our presence in Cyprus."
Air-Vice Marshal Robinson
Air Officer Commanding, No 11 Group
The RAF contingent consists of just over 200 personnel based at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase near Constanta on the Romania Black Sea Coast. The Detachment is responsible for undertaking Quick Reaction Alert, as part of the NATO enhanced Air Policing mission and also carries out NATO enhanced Vigilance Activities alongside other NATO partner nations in Romania.
During his visit Air-Vice Marshal Robinson also met the Romanian Chief of the Air Staff in Bucharest, Lieutenant General Viorel Pana, where he was briefed on the current situation in the region. At Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase, Air-Vice Marshal Robinson also met the Base Commander, Colonel Popescu, and his deputy, Colonel Dodu.
In addition to the RAF Detachment, Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase, hosts the US Black Sea Region Commander, Colonel Kendrick Traylor. Colonel Traylor’s troops form a part of NATO’s standing commitment to collective defence of the Alliance in Eastern Europe, and he was able to brief the Air-Vice Marshal on the specific role of his troops.
During his visit Air-Vice Marshal Robinson highlighted to the Expeditionary Air Wing personnel the importance of the work they are doing especially in the current situation and also thanked for their continued support to operations in the region on behalf of NATO.
