JB McGuire Airmen provide earthquake relief

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JOINT BASE McGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. (AFNS) --  Airmen from the Air Mobility Command's 621st Contingency Response Wing here deployed Airmen to Haiti Jan. 14 in the wake of the country's 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

Members are deploying to facilitate humanitarian airlift operations and aid in providing ground support to the people of Haiti.

More than 100 621st CRW Airmen, will deploy from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst to Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Haiti as part of the U.S. effort to help the people in Haiti. Upon arrival, the team will join with the Army to establish an Aerial Port that can efficiently distribute all the humanitarian aid that is coming into the country. Additionally, this operation will expedite the delivery of humanitarian relief supplies.

This is the first step in getting more relief supplies into the area.

The unit includes a variety of specialties such as aerial port specialists, maintainers, communications specialists, and command and control personnel.

The 621st CRW is one of two specialized wings in the Air Force responsible for training and rapidly deploying personnel to quickly open airfields in remote locations.

"Our focus is getting the right kind of aid, as quickly as possible, to help the people of Haiti," said Col. Brian O'Connor, the 621st CRW commander. "This is what we do; rapid deployment into austere environments to push supplies to the people who need them. Nobody in the world is better prepared for this mission than the 621st Airmen. We are the only country with an aircraft fleet capable of providing this type of response."

The team from JB MDL will deploy into Haiti on the 305th Air Mobility Wing's, C-17 Globemaster III and will be flown by a crew from the 514th Air Mobility Wing.

The CRW extends Air Mobility Command's ability to deploy people and equipment around the globe in support of military and humanitarian missions.

In recent years, the unit has deployed to support relief efforts following earthquakes in Pakistan, the tsunami in Asia as well as hurricane relief in Florida, Louisiana and Texas.