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DOVER, Del. - This time last August, our troops were in the process of evacuating over 124,000 people from Afghanistan as the United States Military withdrew and the 20 year war ended. A number of Airmen based out of Dover were in Afghanistan when Kabul fell. 

Staff Sergeant Duncan Copley remembers getting back from leave last August, when he was quickly told he'd be heading to Afghanistan, but not for a typical mission.

"I kind of knew something was starting on the other side of the world," Staff Sgt. Copley says.

He was a loadmaster during Operation Allies Refuge, The U.S. Government's plan to evacuate Afghan refugees as the country fell back under Taliban rule. His crew had to act fast during their final flight into Kabul.
 
"They told us we had more people than we were expecting to have and then a few minutes later they told us that there was a credible bomb threat on board and that we needed to evacuate the personnel off the aircraft to be searched by the marine corps," says Staff Sgt. Copley. 
 
Team Dover flew more than 90 missions as part of Operation Allies Refuge, transporting more than 7,000 people from the war-torn country. The Dover-based Phoenix Ravens team acted as security for these final flights out of Afghanistan. 
 
"The biggest surprise was just the number of people that we were loading on per jet and the mission tempo and the amount of missions we were flying out of there," says Senior Airman Allan Romanov.
 
Crews trained in Dover, practicing drills to build up strength for the fast-paced mission.
 
"My longest shift was 24 hours just because we would land the plane in Qatar and we would have to keep watch of the people we evacuated from Afghanistan, so I was on my feet the whole time," says Senior Airman Juan A. Galvan Jr.
 
In the end more than 124,000 people were evacuated out of the capital city, families of refugees clinging on and crowding inside of military planes.
 
"They're people, like we've got to help them out," says SrA Galvan. "I'm not just going to leave them there, like I'm going to do anything I can to think outside the box and help take them out."
 
That desperation and hope for a better future in new country is ingrained in the minds of these military members, who are dedicated to serving their country, then and now.
 
Staff Sgt. Copley won the Military Times' 2022 Airman of the Year award for his efforts during Operation Allies Refuge.
 
Along with the over 124,000 Afghans evacuated, at least 800 Americans were also rescued from the country since the Taliban takeover.
 

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