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The Transportation Platoon
of the Spanish NSE
By Cpl. Nicolas Marut
First published in
SFOR Informer #90, June 21, 2000
Mostar
- Thursday is a special day for the Mostar - Ortijes Spanish NSE.
It is when a C-130 Hercules aircraft arrives from Spain, with the new
newcomers on board, and all the parcels and letters that soldiers have
been waiting with patience. The NSE Transportation team, commanded by
Capt. Javier Vila, is in charge of an average of 30 people and 7 tons
of merchandise that the plane transports every week.
The
team is divided in two parts. Six men unload the luggage and packages
of the C-130 before embarking a new cargo. For this mission, they have
only two hours, because the plane takes off to go back to Spain. During
this time, Capt. Vila and his two associates welcome Spanish soldiers,
non-commissioned officers and officers who have just stepped on to the
ground. "We verify that everybody arrived well, that they recover
their baggage as well, and the other guide them toward the customs where
Guardia Civil check their luggage," explained WO2. Emilio Gonzalo,
Vila's deputy.
But
the team's work does not stop there, because the capacity of the Hercules
is not unlimited. And the biggest part of goods of the Spanish Battle
Group arrives or leaves by boat in the Port of Ploce in Croatia. "We
prepare the materials, we count it and prepare all papers so that drivers
only have to take care of the transportation", explain Gonzalo. They
also dispatch the materials between the different services and units of
the Battle Group. In certain circumstances, such as the re-deployment
of the "Extremadura XII" contingent by "Cordoba XIII",
at the end last April, the rhythm of work is even harder.
The rest of the week is used for the preparing parcels and packets arriving
from all Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) toward Spain. With the arrival of
summer, only one thing has changed: the C-130 will land on Wednesday in
the end of the afternoon and take off the following day in the morning,
to avoid staying parked in the sun.
Related link:
Nations of SFOR: Spain
SFOR at Work
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