News>Reservists deliver aid to Haiti over holiday weekend
Photos
Loadmasters with the 300th Airlift Squadron help push a pallet of rice onto a forklift July 1, 2011, in Haiti, during a humanitarian-aid mission. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Rashard Coaxum)
Tech. Sgt. Arrin Baker checks the vertical clearance of a forklift July 1, 2011, during a humanitarian-aid off-load in Haiti. Baker is assigned to the 300th Airlift Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Rashard Coaxum)
Humanitarian-aid workers wait for a dump truck to roll off the ramp of a C-17 Globemaster III July 1, 2011, in Haiti, during an aid mission. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Rashard Coaxum)
Tech. Sgt. Arrin Baker marshals a dump truck out of a C-17 Globemaster III July 1, 2011, during a humanitarian-aid off-load in Haiti. Baker is assigned to the 300th Airlift Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Rashard Coaxum)
by Staff Sgt. Rashard Coaxum
315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
7/6/2011 - JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. (AFNS) -- Members of the Air Force Reserve's 315th Airlift Wing departed here July 1 aboard a C-17 Globemaster III on a humanitarian aid mission to Haiti.
The aircraft delivered 20 pallets of humanitarian aid containing more than 50,000 pounds of rice as well as a 24,000-pound dump truck in support of ongoing relief efforts.
This mission flew in support of the Denton program which has been providing aid to Haiti since it was ravaged by an earthquake in 2010. Much of the aid provided to the people of Haiti is destined for orphanages and villages across the island where the ability to access those resources is scarce.
The Denton program provides direct transportation of disaster-relief materials to countries in need. It gives organizations and individual citizens of the U.S. the opportunity to transport the donations via U.S. military planes on a space-available basis to eligible countries.
Air Mobility Command, which has been directed to fly many of the missions, uses Joint Base Charleston-based C-17s to deliver the aid.
"This is not just another mission," said Master Sgt. Ron Newbold of the humanitarian efforts in Haiti.
Newbold, a loadmaster with the 300th Airlift Squadron here, has flown on several other humanitarian aid missions worldwide.
"We get the chance to help people who are in need and who have no other way to get the necessary things just to live life from day to day," he explained.
The program, which is managed cooperatively by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the State Department and the Department of Defense, took flight immediately after the island of Hispaniola was struck by an earthquake Jan.12, 2010. Since that time, the 315th AW has been called to fly multiple missions to the island, helping to deliver more than 2 million pounds of aid cargo. Besides food, C-17s have delivered other items such as furniture, clothing, and school supplies in support of the program.
"We know this (mission) has a direct impact in helping get this rice down to folks that need it," said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Smith, the aircraft commander from the 300th Airlift Wing, of the aid delivery mission. "We know Haiti is still suffering after the earthquake."
"It's not about us," Newbold said. "This mission is about the heart, and the heart of it is the people in need."
Comments
7/8/2011 8:32:32 PM ET Nice...yet more aid being poured into Haiti. Wonder how much will actually get to people. Anyway, I'd like to see these crews delivering aid to Americans in need instead.
Otis R. Needleman, USA
7/7/2011 4:08:13 PM ET A lot less since there's also a dump truck that was downloaded...Hmmm... A public affairs person not knowing what they're reporting Never.
Dubya, SWA
7/7/2011 1:03:22 PM ET Actually it was 7 pallets...still 50K lbs of rice though
Jim BaileyDenton Program, Joint Base Charleston
7/7/2011 11:30:08 AM ET 20 pallets, huh? I've never seen a C-17 hold that many. If only 1 mission was flown I bet the number was a little closer to 18 or less. I promise.
