CAMP LEMMONIER, Djibouti -- The 818th Mobility Support Advisory Squadron, nicknamed the ‘Silverbacks’ and located out of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., conducted their last-ever mission at Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti, July 10-23, 2026, before the unit’s deactivation set to occur this fall.

Sixteen U.S. Airmen, primarily consisting of Air Advisors from the 818 MSAS but with additional support from the 621st Contingency Response Wing, 435th Tactical Advisory Squadron, and 305th Maintenance Squadron, spent two weeks training Djibouti Air Force members on aircraft maintenance procedures, pilot training, and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance techniques.

“As team lead on the final Air Advisor mission for the 818 MSAS, I watched Djiboutian Air Force Airmen bring professionalism and a clear drive to learn to every training day,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Kendall Washington, 621st Air Mobility Advisory Group standards and evaluations superintendent. “Our entire team from the 818 MSAS, 621 CRW, 435 TAS, and 305 MXS locked in on one shared goal, and working with those capable partners made the deployment more enjoyable.”

The expertise and fundamentals shared by the U.S. Air Advisors with the Djiboutian Airmen aimed at bolstering the longevity and capabilities of the Djiboutian Air Force’s Cessna 208 Caravan aircraft which they utilize in ISR missions to ‘burden share’ mutual security goals in a strategically critical region.

By providing aircraft maintenance and sensor-operator training, the 818 MSAS enabled the Djiboutian Airmen and their aircraft to conduct ISR missions more frequently and more effectively. While the maintenance portion is obviously intended to prolong the lifespan of the aircraft, the pilot and ISR training aimed at improving coordination, communication and integration between the pilot, sensor operator and the ground team receiving the data.

“The mutual security priorities we reinforced will keep this partnership strong long after the 818 MSAS steps away,” Washington added. “I’m proud we helped strengthen it to better reach the mutual security goals between the U.S. and Djibouti.”

The mission culminated in an end-of-training ceremony highlighting the optimization of tactics, techniques and procedures learned by the more than 70 Djiboutian Airmen consisting of pilots, sensor operators and maintainers.

"The Djiboutian Air Force was exceptionally professional and a joy to work with,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Christina Norbygaard, 818 MSAS commander and pilot instructor. “It was an honor for us to play a part in strengthening that relationship. We will never be able to fight and win a war without our allies and partners. We are force multipliers. Not by technology or equipment, but by leveraging the military’s most important asset, the people.”

Activated on April 15, 2011, this mission represented the concluding act of the 818 MSAS after more than 15 years of service under the 621st Contingency Response Wing. During that time, the squadron produced thousands of Air Advisors armed with mentoring techniques, foreign language skills, and region-specific cultural knowledge to train, advise and assist partner nations.

“The formal structure of an Air Advisor squadron may be gone, but the mission will keep going,” Norbygaard said. “The Air Force will need a strong bench to pull from, and having experienced team leaders like ours will be key.”