News>Reservists load humanitarian aid bound for Nicaragua
Photos
Jim McIlrath from Warner Robins, Ga., drives a donated fire truck into the cargo hold of a C-17 Globemaster III guided by aircrew members from the Air Force Reserve Command's 315th Airlift Wing at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. The 315th AW C-17 landed at Robins AFB, Ga., Dec. 30, 2010, to pick up the fire truck and medical supplies bound for Managua, Nicaragua. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Alexy Saltekoff)
Airmen from the Air Force Reserve Command's 315th Airlift Wing at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., load medical supplies onto a 315th AW C-17 Globemaster III at Robins AFB, Ga., Dec. 30, 2010. The aircrew landed here to pick up a fire truck and medical supplies bound for Managua, Nicaragua. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Alexy Saltekoff)
Humanitarian supplies gathered at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., are loaded into a C-17 Globemaster III from the Air Force Reserve Command's 315th Airlift Wing at Charleston AFB, S.C. The 315th AW C-17 landed Dec. 30, 2010, at Robins AFB to pick up a fire truck and medical supplies bound for Managua, Nicaragua. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Alexy Saltekoff)
by Capt. Christina R. Hoggatt
Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs
1/3/2011 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS) -- A C-17 Globemaster III from the Air Force Reserve Command's 315th Airlift Wing at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., landed here Dec. 30 to load humanitarian aid headed for Managua, Nicaragua.
A fire truck along with nearly three and a half tons of medical supplies and firefighting equipment donated by members of Emergency Response Services for Latin America, an organization formed by Rodney McDonald from Warner Robins, Ga., and Mark Taylor from Bend, Ore., to assist countries in Latin America, were loaded onto the C-17 here.
The equipment is being transported through the Denton Program, which permits the Department of Defense to provide transportation of privately donated humanitarian cargo to foreign countries using military transportation on a space-available basis. There is no cost to the donating agency or organization for the C-17 transportation-related costs.
"The opportunity to bring humanitarian aid that provides direct assistance to countries in need is one of the better missions we do," said Lt. Col. Jess Smith, the mission commander. "The entire crew is proud to be a part of these important missions."
According to an ERSLA release, the organization began soliciting equipment for this shipment in 2009 by visiting fire departments and by networking online. Donated equipment from around the country was consolidated in one staging location in Warner Robins.
Additionally, a second C-17 crew from the 315th AW is scheduled to deliver nearly $67,000 in medical and school supplies to the Lifeline Orphanage in Haiti as well as another $25,000 in clothing, food, medical and school supplies to agencies in Grenada, donated by Good News Project, Inc., an interfaith organization in Wausau, Wis.
In total, Air Force Reserve aircrews delivered four tons of humanitarian aid, school supplies and first-responder emergency equipment to Central America and the Caribbean during the New Years holiday weekend.
