Cope West Airmen conduct community relations event

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Cohen A. Young
  • Defense Media Activity-Hawaii
LANUD GORDA BINGUANG, Indonesia --  Airmen from Yokota Air Base, Japan, delivered more than 1,200 pounds of clothes, toys and sports equipment to the Sd Negeri Gembor 2 Elementary School here April 21 as part of Cope West 10.

Cope West, scheduled through April 23, is a Pacific Air Forces-sponsored bilateral tactical airlift exercise involving U.S. and Indonesian air forces. It is designed to promote cooperation and unity of purpose. As part of the exercise, the two air forces made time to give back to the local community.

"We brought about 1,200 pounds of donations here that we collected from our base," said Lt. Col. Dave Kincaid, 36th Airlift Squadron commander at Yokota AB.

Upon arrival to the school, Colonel Kincaid was greeted by the school headmaster, several teachers, local news television stations and more than 150 schoolchildren. The children greated the Airmen with big smiles, and spent time laughing and playing with their American visitors.

"This was a great event," said Airman 1st Class Brian Ellis, an air transportation technician from the 374th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Yokota AB. "It was great seeing the children smile as they saw us, and they were happy to accept the donations that we brought."

The Airmen are conducting most of their training with Indonesian forces at Hamlin Air Base, located in the Lanud Gorda Binguang area. Because of this, the Cope West participants wanted to conduct a community event nearby.

"We wanted to have a community event that was either near Halim Air Base or near the Gorda drop zone because they are the communities that see the interaction between the U.S. and Indonesian forces during this week while we're here," Colonel Kincaid said.

Cope West serves to further the cooperation between the United States and Indonesia, and is designed to foster and maintain positive relationships.