MANSFIELD, Ohio — Tim Stacy, a Tech Sgt. of the 179th Airlift Wing, took the long way home, via a four-month deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan.
The Lucas resident volunteered to offer hands-on training to Afghan Air Force personnel in repairing and operating Afghan C-130H Hercules aircraft at the Train, Advise, Assist Command–Air (TAAC-Air) in Kabul.
“I just thought it was an interesting mission,” he said. “It’s a pretty big deal and I just thought it would be cool to do something a little more out of my element.”
Stacy has served in the military for nearly 11 years–the first eight as an active-duty member of the Air Force. He’s been with the 179th Airlift Wing, a local unit of the Ohio Air National Guard, for close to three years.
On his third and most recent deployment, he worked one-on-one with Afghan Air Force personnel, teaching them best practices for aircraft maintenance.
“What they’re trying to do is build their own Air Force,” he said, “so we’re there to support that.”
The language barrier didn’t have much of an impact, he said, since some of the Afghans could speak English and were able to serve as translators for those who couldn’t.
He said it was a unique experience to work with airmen from different states and another country. Friendships were formed along the way and he gained a greater respect for the Afghan personnel.
“These guys are coming to work every day with the possibility of being exploited,” he said, “so for them to come to work every day in uniform and try to learn with us, that was really awesome to see. It’s nice to see somebody that actually cares about their country and wants it to work.”
He was reminded of the pride he has for his own country.
“We train here (in the U.S.) to be able to go anywhere, and we trained them to the standard we were trained,” he said.
When he wasn’t tending to the mission at hand, he spent time at the gym, Skyping with family or reading a book–“anything to keep my mind busy,” he said.
Col. Todd Thomas, Commander of the 179th Maintenance Group, said 179th Airlift Wing leadership is proud of Stacy and his accomplishments.
“He represented the 179th Airlift Wing and the Ohio Air National Guard honorably,” Thomas said.
