The Foreign Service Journal, March 2022

44 MARCH 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL wrenching reminder to the other men of the families they were forced to leave behind as they followed orders to evacuate the aircraft out of Afghanistan on Aug. 15. Our embassy teamworried that the family’s presence might tempt others to give up on relocation and return to Afghanistan, but in the end every man boarded the plane—retain- ing hopes of eventually being reunited with family and building a better life in the United States. This autumn’s events join a few extraordinary moments in my Foreign Service career, when I was truly over- whelmed by the commitment to ser- vice demonstrated by my colleagues. All of us from Embassy Tashkent’s “Team Termez” felt a powerful con- nection to similar efforts happening in other countries bordering Afghanistan, at “lily pads” in Northeast Asia and Europe, and at Afghan recep- tion centers in Dulles and beyond. Coming together to execute such a complicated, politically sensitive operation demonstrated the creativity and determina- tion of those in service to the U.S. government. For all of us, it was a huge relief to learn the group had finally landed in the United States. We remain hopeful their families will find a way to join them in the very near future. Sandra Jacobs is the deputy political-economic chief at U.S. Embassy Tashkent. She has previously served in Mumbai, Dushanbe, Tallinn and Washington, D.C. Saving Afghan Pilots’ Families TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN Alexis Sullivan It was the most momentous call of my career. Who else could we get out? I knew there was a safe way to get people to Kabul airport, but could they get there in time? So while our primary responsibility in Tash- kent remained responding to Americans and other priority groups transiting Uzbekistan, as acting deputy chief of mission I asked our country team who else on our collective radar remained in Kabul for whom we should make a referral in the U.S. national interest. After a drop by and a few failed calls because I forgot the right way to dial the Defense Switch Network, the right people put me in touch with the right person at the right time. Turns out, there were brave Afghan air- men and women along with their families who had stayed behind in Kabul so other members of the unit could save the lethal equipment— and the well-trained operators—from falling into the hands of the Taliban or even worse. But when I had picked up the phone, I had no sense of what was at stake. There were just two packets of details and faces of an airman's family members, sent out-of-protocol amid a sea of increasingly desperate and out-of- protocol emails that would only increase as the days went on. My question to start was: “Are there more such families in Kabul?” “Yes.” “Wait, there’s still high-ranking airmen left in Kabul?” “Absolutely.” They were heroes who stayed behind on the tarmac in Kabul with the hopes of rescues for the rest of the unit and all the fami- lies, but also to lead the group to safety in the middle of the night and provide instructions. The families knew their loved ones were doing one last mission for their country and their people. On that call, our small team realized we could give them a fighting chance in Kabul. “Team Termez” checks in Afghan Air Force for relocation flight out of Uzbekistan. MATTHABINOWSKI SANDRAJACOBS Afghan pilots await departure from residential camp in Termez, Uzbekistan, August 2021.