NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days

This year marks the fifth anniversary since the first US Strategic B-52 bomber took part at the NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days. To honour this jubilee, on Friday, 13 November, Jagello 2000 hosted an “anniversary lunch” in Shreveport, Louisiana, for the members of the 307^th Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, who have managed the B-52 visits in Ostrava. On the same occasion, a sister-city partnership between Shreveport and Ostrava was signed and the “Broken Wings” exhibition was presented at the Barksdale AFB.

“The B-52’s participation has lifted our show to new heights both in terms of actual presence of the aircraft, as well as being an important reference point. There are not many events in Europe where B-52 has been present four times in five years,” says Zbyněk Pavlačík, chairman of Jagello 2000.

Both the present and past commanders of the 307^th BW accepted the invitation for the anniversary lunch, whose guests further included other members of the Wing and representatives of the Global Strike Command. The B-52 Stratofortress has participated at NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days repeatedly from 2010 through 2012. In 2012, two aircraft took part, one for static and one for dynamic presentation. Ending a two-year “break”, the bomber returned to the Ostrava show this year. “The B-52 participation is extremely complex in terms of administrative requirements as well as logistic support and involves high number of people. By organizing this lunch, it was our intention to express our thanks for everybody’s great support over the years that made the B-52 participation at our event possible,” adds Pavlačík.

Also present at the lunch were Ms Ollie S. Tyler, mayor of Shreveport, Mr Kamil Bednář, deputy mayor of the City of Ostrava and Mr David Pfleger, councillor of the City of Ostrava. On the same day, both cities have signed an agreement on partnership. “We believe that the newly established cooperation will be beneficial both for our cities as well as serve as basis for greater US participation at NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days,” stated the Ostrava representatives.

As the third element of the anniversary meeting, an exhibition recalling activities of the 20th Bomb Squadron over strategic targets in Northern Bohemia during WWII opened at Barksdale AFB. Introducing the “Broken Wings” exposition, Brigadier General Jiri Verner, Czech Defence Attache to U.S.A., also said: “There is a great deal of symbolism here. During WWII, US bombers helped liberate Czechoslovakia from Nazi occupation. Today, the aircraft coming to the show in Ostrava remind us of our new partnership as NATO Allies.”
 

See you at
16^th NATO Days in Ostrava & 7^th Czech Air Force Days!

The General Partner of NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days is the company

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