Robins Airmen support Haitian relief efforts Published Feb. 3, 2010 ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS) -- Eight members of the 5th Combat Communications Group left Robins Air Force Base Jan. 31 to assist relief efforts in Haiti. The Robins AFB Airmen include two satellite communication technicians and a six-person deployable initial communications element team will provide initial ground communication capabilities for an Air Force expeditionary medical support unit, said Capt. Joel Nelson, the DICE team leader. "We'll be setting up both voice and data capabilities," he said. Staff Sgt Jarrell Williams, one of the two satellite communications technicians, will have a different mission, but one which will also aid the recovery efforts. "I'll be providing full motion video from surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flying overhead," he explained. "What they see in the aircraft, I'll see with a five-second delay, then take the video and put it onto a server so agencies (on the ground) can use it." Some of those who deployed recently returned from a six-month rotation from Southwest Asia. Though they hadn't been home long, most volunteered for the 120-day assignment, Captain Nelson said. "This is what we do. We train and we deploy," said Col. Jose Rivera, the 5th Combat Communications Group commander. "The earthquake hit 17 days ago and we were ready 16 days ago. When the news hit, we started revving up." The colonel added it takes more than just the communicators themselves to make something like this happen. "We couldn't do it without the support the people of middle Georgia have been giving (us) for 46 years," he said.