Non-combatant evacuation operation
A Non-combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) is an operation conducted to evacuate civilians from another country, generally due to a deteriorating security situation.
South Vietnamese refugees arrive on a U.S. Navy vessel during Operation Frequent Wind in 1975.
Operation Allies Refuge: Afghans being evacuated on a US Air Force Boeing C-17 plane during the Fall of Kabul in August 2021.
Operation Allies Refuge was an evacuation effort carried out by the United States during the 2021 Taliban offensive. It took place in the final weeks of the War in Afghanistan and saw the airlifting of certain at-risk Afghan civilians, employees of the American embassy in Kabul, and other prospective applicants for the U.S. Special Immigrant Visa (SIV). American personnel also helped NATO and other regional allies in their respective evacuation efforts from Hamid Karzai International Airport in the capital city of Kabul. The operation was concurrent with the broader American military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the multinational evacuation of eligible foreigners and vulnerable Afghans.
Evacuees at Hamid Karzai International Airport are escorted by a U.S. Marine from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 18 August 2021
Temporary meal service and processing facilities for Afghan special immigrant visa applicants at Fort Lee, Virginia, July 2021
A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III evacuates 823 fleeing Afghan citizens from Hamid Karzai International Airport on 15 August 2021.
U.S. soldiers and Marines assist with security at an evacuation control checkpoint at Kabul Airport, 19 August
