On 08 February 2022, Colonel Pascal Ballinger, Deputy Chief of Defence and national Matrac* representative, welcomed Major General Andreas Schick, Commander EATC, for bilateral talks.
Colonel Ballinger thanked the Commander for EATC’s valuable support during the evacuations from Kabul in August 2021. He also welcomed plans to support the nations during future crisis commitments, and to offer comprehensive multinational planning and coordination. The interlocutors had an exchange on forthcoming airlift requests for Luxembourg’s NATO and EU stand-by commitments, and on how a multinational EATC approach would facilitate these needs. They concluded their meeting by discussing EATC’s shuttle system, including the added-value for Luxembourg’s air mobility needs and the contribution through the Belgium-Luxembourg Unit (BNU) or the Multinational MRTT Unit (MMU).
The previous day, General Schick visited “Luxembourg Air Rescue”, executing the aeromedical evacuation missions on behalf of the Luxembourg Defense. He congratulated “Luxembourg Air Rescue” for the professional service and thanked Colonel Ballinger for offering these niche capabilities completing perfectly EATC’s portfolio.
* Multinational Air Transport Committee, EATC’s highest decision level