American servicemembers, helicopters deploy to Haiti

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Bryan Franks
  • Joint Task Force-Bravo Public Affairs
SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras (AFNS) --  Joint Task Force-Bravo officials deployed 40 servicemembers, four UH-60 Blackhawks and equipment March 21 and 22 in support of Joint Task Force-Haiti's airlift operations in Haiti.

Four C-17 Globemaster IIIs landed and were loaded during a three-day period to airlift more than 180,000 pounds of equipment.

"I am very proud of our servicemembers' professionalism as they worked together to load the aircraft and get our team out the door to Haiti," said Col. Gregory Reilly, the JTF-Bravo commander. "We at Joint Task Force-Bravo are always ready to support operations throughout Southern Command's area of responsibility."

The 228th Aviation Regiment, the unit making up the majority of the deployed team, spent the last week folding the UH-60 blades and palletizing equipment for the approximately 30-day deployment to Haiti.

Once in Haiti, the JTF-B helicopters and members are scheduled to provide air support to Joint Task Force-Haiti, with a focus on providing airlift to people in need of medical evacuation. JTF-Haiti is the U.S. military's task force conducting disaster relief efforts, named Operation Unified Response, to assist Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake there.

(1st Lt. Jen Richard of JTF-Bravo contributed to this article.)