Within hours after
Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, Air Force Reserve
Command people and aircraft were headed toward disaster areas to
help survivors. Three HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters from the 920th
Rescue Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., flew to Jackson,
Miss., late Aug. 30 to fly Federal Emergency Management Agency
damage assessment teams to affected areas.
"Our rescue crews continued supporting FEMA efforts until 5
a.m., the next day," said Col. Max D'La Rotta, a Katrina crisis
action team director at AFRC headquarters here. "And we have other
units standing by or beginning to send people and equipment to
areas hit by the hurricane."
Two AFRC units took the brunt of the hurricane's impact Aug. 29.
Heavy rains and wind slammed the 403rd Wing and other Air Force
units at Keesler AFB, Miss., and flooding swamped the 926th Fighter
Wing at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans.
Flying out of Asheville, N.C., a C-130 Hercules from the 403rd
Wing returned to Keesler to deliver circuit breakers and related
supplies to the base hospital.
The 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell AFB, Ala., geared up two
C-130s and aircrews along with aeromedical evacuation people.
Aerial porters from the unit prepared to spend a week helping to
move people and cargo.
Another Reserve C-130 unit, the 910th AW from Youngstown Air
Reserve Station, Ohio, has two aircraft and crews ready to fly
relief missions.
In California, heavy airlift people and aircraft from the 349th
Air Mobility Wing at Travis AFB, and the 452nd AMW at March Air
Reserve Base prepared to move water rescue teams to Lafayette
Regional Airport, La.
C-5 Galaxy aircraft and crews from the 433rd AW at Lackland AFB,
Texas, and 439th AW at Westover ARB, Mass., are on alert to support
relief efforts.
"We’re supporting an Air Mobility Command tasking with 20
aeromedical crews from around the country," Colonel D'La Rotta
said. "And we expect to get more calls for assistance in the days
ahead."
Keesler's Hurricane Hunters flew data-gathering missions into
Katrina before it made landfall. One day after the hurricane hit
Mississippi they launched from Ellington Air National Guard Base,
Texas, and St. Croix to track another tropical storm. About half of
the 403rd Wing's planes evacuated to Ellington, and about half of
the others went to Dyess AFB, Texas, to avoid Katrina.
A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft and many of the full-time people
from the 926th FW relocated from New Orleans Air Reserve Station to
Barksdale AFB, La., in the wake of the hurricane.