McChord Airmen, C-17s ready for Haiti relief operations
Posted on January 17, 2010MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. – Two C-17 Globemaster III aircrews assigned here are on alert status to assist victims devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake which ravaged Haiti Tuesday, leaving thousands of people dead and many others homeless. Air Mobility Command and McChord are participating in a swift and coordinated relief effort to save lives and alleviate human suffering in the aftermath of this devastating earthquake.
DoD command, control and coordination of the humanitarian airlift effort for this tragic event is provided by the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. The 618th TACC plans an average of 900 airlift and air refueling missions each day, and can seamlessly redirect aircraft to support requirements for humanitarian relief operations. They are accomplishing Haitian relief efforts while simultaneously conducting missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other global locations.
In preparation for Hurricane Gustav in 2008, McChord Airmen flew four members of the 615th Contingency Response Wing and 15,500 pounds of their equipment to New Orleans International Airport in New Orleans, La., right in the heart of the coastal areas destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. More recently, in October 2009, McChord transported nine Federal Emergency Management Agency members and 17,000 pounds of cargo to American Samoa in support of tsunami relief operations.
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