<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Courtesy of <i>Stars and Stripes</i> at:</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/hundreds-of-military-dependents-ordered-to-evacuate-turkey-1.401622" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/hundreds-of-military-dependents-ordered-to-evacuate-turkey-1.401622</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">---------------------------------</span></div><div><h1 style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.2;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hundreds of military dependents ordered to evacuate Turkey</span></font></h1><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — The Pentagon is ordering nearly 700 military family members to leave Incirlik Air Base and two smaller military installations in Turkey because of concerns over the deteriorating security environment there.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Families are expected to begin leaving Turkey on Wednesday, stopping first at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, before continuing on to the States or other duty locations, U.S. European Command told Stars and Stripes.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We understand this is disruptive to our military families, but we must keep them safe and ensure the combat effectiveness of our forces to support our strong ally Turkey in the fight against terrorism,” EUCOM chief Gen. Philip Breedlove said Tuesday in a statement.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The mandatory departure order, announced by the State Department, affects nearly all Defense Department dependents assigned to Incirlik, as well as those at smaller bases in Izmir and Mugla</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">About 670 dependents are expected to be evacuated, along with 287 pets. About 770 dependents, most from Incirlik, are currently in Turkey, EUCOM spokeswoman Julie Weckerlein said. Those allowed to stay are family members with mission-essential jobs.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The dramatic move to get families out of Turkey comes several weeks after Americans at Incirlik were put on base lockdown, when the force-protection level was raised to the military’s highest threat condition. The elementary/high school at Incirlik was temporarily shuttered on March 9 as a result.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Classes for Incirlik students resumed Monday and Tuesday at different locations on base, but that arrangement appears to be short-lived given Tuesday’s announcement.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Some families had already opted to leave Incirlik. In September, the Air Force authorized the voluntary early departure of residents, a temporary measure that resulted in about 100 family members leaving for the States. School enrollment since the fall has plummeted by more than 100 students, leaving about 250 students at the school.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also in September, the Air Force suspended the move of U.S. servicemembers’ families to Incirlik, an early signal of the growing concern over violence in the region.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Incirlik has one of the smallest populations of any U.S. Air Forces in Europe facility, with fewer than 2,000 airmen normally assigned there. Weckerlein said no decisions have been made on the future status of Incirlik as a continued destination for families.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“They will review this in the future,” she said.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The evacuation does not signify a permanent decision to end accompanied tours to Turkey, EUCOM said.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It is intended to mitigate the risk to DOD elements and personnel, including family members, while ensuring the combat effectiveness of U.S. forces and our mission support to operations in Turkey,” according to the EUCOM statement.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Still, the long-term prospects for Incirlik as an accompanied destination appear to be in limbo.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Last week, the Incirlik base commander said during an American Forces Network “commander’s corner” spot that there was nothing official yet regarding changing the status of Incirlik as an accompanied tour for airmen. But, if there were a transition, “it wouldn’t surprise me to see Kunsan-style assignments where everybody is on a one-year remote,” said Col. John Walker, 39th Air Base Wing commander, in the video posted Friday to the base’s Facebook site. He was referring to airmen based in South Korea.</span></p><div class="ndn_embed ndn_embedding ndn_embedContainer ndn-widget-embed-2 ndn_embedded" id="ndn-video-inside-story" data-config-distributor-id="92012" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: auto; padding: 0px; position: relative; z-index: 1;"></div><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“So, what’s the future going to look like? I’m really interested in that myself,” he said.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Uncertainty about the nature of future deployments to the base comes as military operations at Incirlik have increased. Now, the base is on the front lines of the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, with U.S. fighters routinely launching from Incirlik on strike missions.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In July, U.S. troops and aircraft began rotating through Incirlik in larger numbers as part of the ramping up of the air campaign. At the same time, NATO allies have been conducting operations from Incirlik, including surveillance flights around the Turkish border.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For the U.S., Incirlik Air Base has long been a strategic spoke for U.S. forces, dating back to the Cold War. While Incirlik has no permanent U.S. aircraft assigned, the base has long served as a temporary hub for cargo and refueling missions supporting U.S. aircraft in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The base also is only about 200 miles from the Syrian border, where the transit of foreigners back and forth to Turkey has been a long-standing concern for the U.S. and its allies.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The town of Incirlik, a small village, is about 10 miles from the largely conservative Turkish city of Adana, home to nearly 2 million people.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Children gather for the first day of school at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, on Aug. 26, 2013. The Defense Department has announced on Tuesday, March 29, 2016, that it will start the evacuation all 670 dependents from the base for force-protection reasons.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/Photos/Stars_and_Stripes/SS_032916.jpg" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.tomandrodna.com/Photos/Stars_and_Stripes/SS_032916.jpg</font></a></p></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">---------------------------------<br><br></span><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" </span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div></div></body></html>