Rebuilding Hope
Video: Fairchild airmen deliver aid, forge relationships at Kyrgyzstan preschool.
Gateway To Afghanistan Colin Mulvany
MONDAY, OCT. 25, 2010
TUESDAY, OCT. 19, 2010
Airmen visit preschool
Airmen from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing out of Fairchild Air Force Base made a humanitarian visit to the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, on Monday, Oct 18, 2010. The children received donated winter coat, balloons, stuffed animals and school supplies, as well as the…
Off to war
At the Manas Transit Center, Marines with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, make final preparations for haeding downrange in to Afghanistan Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010.
MONDAY, OCT. 18, 2010
A common sight
The donkey cart is a common sight in the small villiages near the Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan. I spotted this one passing a pre-school that Fairchild airmen were visiting Monday.
Nursing a double tall
It is 12:30 a.m. and I just gave up my bunk to a U.S. Army officer heading to Afghanistan. I have only six hours left of my stay at the Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan. This place is jamming with a surge of new arrivals…
SUNDAY, OCT. 17, 2010
Relics of Soviet past
The U.S. air base shares the same runway as Bishkek's commercial airport, which is littered with decaying aircraft from Kyrgyzstan's recent Soviet past. Many of the Soviet-era buildings around the airport, some still in use, show severe deterioration as well.Dozens of dilapidated aircraft -- ranging…
SATURDAY, OCT. 16, 2010
Bonding with Americans
Bishkek lawyer Louiza Abvullaeva, decked out in leather pants, stilletto heals and a designer T-shirt, was among the estimated 2,000 Kyrgyz residents to visit Manas Transit Center during the air base's annual Friends and Family Day on Saturday.“I have a bond with American people,” Abvullaeva…
Sleepless in Kyrgyzstan
It is 4:40 a.m. in the morning in Kyrgyzstan and I can't sleep. I've been bunking with an Army soldier who is headed home from Afghanistan. He, like many others we've met, have that far-away stare that is so common with guys coming out of…
A delicate maneuver
In a delicate dance between man and machine high above Afghanistan, an F-15E Eagle tops off its tanks with jet fuel provided by a Fairchild Air Force Base 92nd Air Refuling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker on deployment at the Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan.
FRIDAY, OCT. 15, 2010
Sleep when you can...
As morning light breaks over the Atlantic Ocean, Airman 1St Class James White with 92nd Air Refueling Wing from Fairchild Air Force Base, sleeps during his nine-hour flight to England in a KC-135R air refueling tanker Oct. 14, 2010. White is on his way to…
Preparing for winter
The temperature in Bishkek when the KC-135 landed at Manas was in the low 70s, a bit of an October oddity for this part of Central Asia, but five of the Fairchild-based airmen aboard are a reminder that winter is on the way.They are the…
Prepare for landing
After an overnight in England, Capt. Chris Dieter and his co-pilot Lincoln Olsen prepare to land their KC-135R Stratotanker at Manas Transit Center Oct. 15, 2010. The night before, over the Atlantic Ocean, the crew was given a front row seat to a massive Northern…
THURSDAY, OCT. 14, 2010
Not business class
Airmen with the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base strap in for a seventeen hour flight to the Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan. The aircrew and five maintainers are in route to Kyrgyzstan aboard a Fairchild KC-135R Stratotanker refueling aircraft for a…
TUESDAY, OCT. 12, 2010
Sputter....
During taxiing to the runway at Fairchild Air Force Base, our pilot noticed that he had trouble steering the nose gear of aircraft. We have deplaned and await word whether we can continue on with the trip tonight, or come back tomorrow and try again.
Don't forget your earplugs
The KC-135 is loaded and the deployment briefing is done. In addition to learning how to thwart potential hijackers, earplugs were passed out. Apparently, flying in a refueling tanker is quite a bit noisier than commercial jets. It's also so cold that sleeping bags are…
Colin Mulvany joined The Spokesman-Review in 1988. He currently is a photojournalist in the Photo Department covering daily news and Gonzaga basketball.