What Happened During Final Days in Afghanistan

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.–Speaking on the third anniversary of the “chaotic” final day of the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan, the man who oversaw the jam-packed flights out of the Kabul airport is sharing what he learned that day when it comes to leadership, how to view “rules,” and more.

Alex Pelbath, a former Air Force officer who was the air mission commander during the evacuation from Kabul, shared with attendees at the Defense CU Council’s annual meeting his experiences on a day that was widely documented in worldwide media coverage as desperate Afghans stormed the airfield and attempted to crowd onto planes to flee the country.

The situation reminded him, he said, of the Mike Tyson observation that “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

And during the 16 days the U.S. pulled out of the country, there were a lot of punches to the mouth, as Pelbath made clear.

But as he also emphasized, It was a great example of a saying in the Air Force that “flexibility is the key to air power.”

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