It all started in early August 2021 when we first received a call to assist in the rescue effort by some fellow veterans to evacuate their friend Aziz from Afghanistan in the closing days of the US presence. Utilizing our unique relationships around the world, we launched an effort assist in evacuating a small group of Afghans and American citizens from Kabul to an evacuation lily pad site in the United Arab Emirates. Once on the ground in Kabul Aug. 20, 2021, our team became a recognized asset to CENTCOM at HKIA. What was intended to be a small focused effort, quickly evolved into direct assistance to the US Government’s Non-Combatant Evacuation (NEO) mission. Over the course of the final 10 days of August, we directly evacuated approximately 6,000 Afghans and American Citizens on NGO provided aircraft, and assisted in 5,000 evacuated on US aircraft. This effort has been described in the book "Saving Aziz" and the video "Send Me."

 

Following the US withdrawal August 31, 2021, tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans, including those that served with and alongside the US, persecuted religious and ethnic minorities, women, and many others in fear for their lives from the Taliban now in control of their country. Realizing the need, and our unique ability to continue managing evacuation flights, The Black Feather Foundation was created to manage the continuing evacuation effort from Mazar-i-Sharif to the UAE’s Emirates Humanitarian City. Over the next few

months, we were able to evacuate an additional 9,000 Afghans, American Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents, with partner NGOs. Over the last year and a half, we have remained committed to seeing the mission to its conclusion, having successfully assisted in the resettlement of more than 13,000 of the approximately 15,000 evacuated with Black Feather’s assistance. During the winter of 2021-2022, TBFF also successfully delivered $90,000 worth of food to Afghans in need.