The Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) is a multinational military airlift organization based at Pápa Air Base, Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

. It was officially activated on July 27, 2009 as part the Strategic Airlift Capability

NATO Strategic Airlift Capability

The Strategic Airlift Capability is a consortium of 12 nations, 10 of which are member states of NATO and two of which are Partners For Peace, to pool together resources to purchase and operate Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft for joint strategic airlift purposes.The SAC concept was...

 consortium. The consortium purchased and operates three C-17 Globemaster III

C-17 Globemaster III

The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft. Developed for the United States Air Force from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas, the C-17 is used for rapid strategic airlift of troops and cargo to main operating bases or forward operating bases throughout...

 aircraft that fly under the national markings of Hungary. To date the HAW's operational group has been commanded by a colonel of the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 but is to be next commanded by an officer from the Netherlands. Boeing

Boeing

The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...

 provides nearly all operational maintenance of the aircraft with a 50-member contractor force, while depot maintenance and crew training is provided by the USAF in the United States.

The wing has provided strategic airlift worldwide on combat, humanitarian, disaster relief, and peacekeeping missions for its 12 member countries. While independent of any command by the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

, United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

, or NATO, many of the missions by consortium members have been in support of objectives of those organizations, primarily in strategic airlift support of the International Security Assistance Force

International Security Assistance Force

The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...

 in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. The wing has also flown into Iraq.