{"id":15543,"date":"2021-08-27T18:03:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T18:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/08\/27\/tonight-well-be-maxed-out-inside-ramstein-air-bases-push-to-host-thousands-of-evacuees-from-afghanistan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:30:17","slug":"tonight-well-be-maxed-out-inside-ramstein-air-bases-push-to-host-thousands-of-evacuees-from-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2021\/08\/27\/tonight-well-be-maxed-out-inside-ramstein-air-bases-push-to-host-thousands-of-evacuees-from-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Tonight, we\u2019ll be maxed out.\u2019 Inside Ramstein Air Base\u2019s push to host thousands of evacuees from Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ramstein Air Base in Germany has built a temporary “city” and a makeshift international airport as it works to take in thousands of refugees from Afghanistan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany \u2014 In less than a week, the air base that runs the U.S. military\u2019s European and African operations has transformed into an international city, hosting tens of thousands of men, women and children fleeing Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, first learned Aug. 19 that evacuees escaping the Taliban would be brought to the installation<\/a> for processing, medical evaluations and temporary housing before they are resettled in the United States. By the following day, the first influx of C-17 military transport aircraft arrived, filled mostly with American citizens, Afghan nationals and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The base has worked around the clock to ensure evacuees have medical service, food, water and shelter while based here under Operation Allies Refuge, officials here told reporters Thursday. More than 350 tents sit across the airfield to house the thousands of people arriving on a daily basis, They receive critical supplies from the Defense Department, the Red Cross and other partners, and undergo various processing procedures before they can get on an aircraft bound for Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Master Sgt. Koby Williams, 86th Operations Support Squadron joint airdrop inspector, unrolls a tent at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Aug. 22. (Airman 1st Class Madelyn Keech\/Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ramstein is the headquarters of United States Air Forces in Europe and Africa, but starting last Friday it turned into \u201can international airport and a city, with at least three to four times our occupancy on base,\u201d said Brig. Gen. Josh Olson, 86th Airlift Wing commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\t