Bangor’s 101st Air Refueling Wing discusses recent project in Montenegro

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - The 101st Air Refueling Wing in Bangor hosted a media day to discuss its recent project in Montenegro.

The Maineiacs at the Maine Air National Guard have been hard at work, not only here in Maine, but partnering with NATO allies abroad.

The Civil Engineering Squadron returned two weeks ago after finishing their project in Montenegro.

“This provides an opportunity for a multitude of organizations to go over and share best practices with the Montenegrins, and we learned from them just as much as they learned from us,” said Maj. Daniel Trembley, current commander.

Maine and Montenegro’s relationship began in 2006 and is also part of the National Guard State Partnership Program that strengthens the relationship between the US and partner countries.

The 29 members from Bangor and South Portland and 10 Montenegro Armed Forces Engineers worked together to construct two concrete training pads, two bed down areas, and helped fix base and maintenance issues.

“We partner with them because our militaries are similar size, and we’ve been a partner with them for 16 years, and they are now part of NATO. And, it’s really important that we have an opportunity to train overseas with different NATO countries because in the event we’re called to duty, as most recently in Afghanistan and Iraq and all around the world, we sometimes have an opportunity to work with different countries, and it’s really important that we can work well together,” said Col. Todd W. Nadeau, Vice Wing commander.

Now back in Maine, The Maineiacs are currently working on continuing to add on to their base, hoping to add a new refueling aircraft to replace the older KC-135s.

“We’re currently designing for the construction of a new aircraft hangar. It’s going to be a $38 million dollar hangar to support the KC-46,” said Staff Sgt. Tyler Field, engineering technician.