Air Force busy before the storm

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SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) --  Waiting for Hurricane Rita is now a national vigil -- but the Air Force has not been idle, waiting for the storm to hit.

Instead, it mobilized.

Some Airmen moved to locations nearer to where the hurricane will make landfall -- along the Texas-Louisiana border. They need to be close when the order comes to join recovery efforts. Others continue to monitor and track the storm’s progress.

It is a job Airmen have been doing since Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans and left a huge path of destruction through the Louisiana-Mississippi Gulf Coast on Aug. 29.

The Department of Defense said it is a job the military will continue doing to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency during hurricane relief operations. Defense officials said the military is providing proactive support for Hurricane Rita relief efforts and trying to anticipate requirements and position the right support, at the right time in the right place.

“We appreciate being a part of the effort to ensure the safety of Americans put at risk by this storm,” said Maj. Keith Franke, an Air Force Reserve pilot with the 446th Airlift Wing at McChord Air Force Base, Wash.

The major and his crew flew a C-17 Globemaster III mission into Beaumont, Texas, on Sept. 22. It was just a few days since he had transported relief supplies the New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The cavernous transport has a huge cargo capacity.

“We can help make sure that what’s needed most gets to where it will be most useful,” he said.

The same day, a C-130 Hercules from the 440th AW at Gen. Billy Mitchell International Airport Reserve Station, Wis., flew into Beaumont to stage aeromedical evacuations. And a C-141 Starflifter from the 445th AW at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, flew in to pick up patients and evacuees and flew them to a base in Georgia.

That was just two days worth of work. The Air Force has been busy getting ready for Rita and has Airmen and their specialized equipment bedded down at 14 locations in Texas and Louisiana. And there are thousands more at their home bases ready to join the relief effort.

Here are some other things Airmen have been doing to get ready for the hurricane:

-- Helicopter crews from 20th Air Force at Petersen AFB, Colo., are ready to support relief operations. Six helicopters from F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., Malmstrom AFB, Mont., and Minot AFB, N.D., are preparing to deploy to the relief area to provide food, water and medical supplies.

“All of the helos have forward-looking infrared radar, four have hoist capabilities and two can be used for search and rescue missions," said Col. Michael Vaughn, 20th Air Force director of operations.

The aircrews are experts in search and rescue and transporting people and supplies to areas where ground travel isn’t available. But they do not know what they will do until they are in place, said Col. Dan Adams, commander of Minot’s 91st Space Wing.

But he said the Air Force is “planning ahead and marshalling its forces to be prepared to go into action if the call comes.”

-- Twelve aircrews and C-130s are on alert duty for Rita at Little Rock AFB, Ark.

“We have the ability to deploy anytime and anywhere to respond quickly to any situation around the world,” said Col. Andy Hamilton, 314th Operations Group commander. “We feel it is important to use this capability in times of emergency. We stand ready.”

-- The Air Force has a director of mobility forces, a contingency response group and a medical planning team deployed to Austin, Texas. They are there to coordinate necessary relief efforts once the hurricane makes landfall. Contingency response groups move into bare-base locations. Its members provide rapid response forces with air-base-opening capability -- critical to the arrival of initial support at damaged airfields and designated locations.

-- Hurricane Hunters from the 403rd Airlift Wing at Keesler AFB, Miss., have been conducting missions, flying into the eye of the hurricane to provide critical data to the National Hurricane Center.

-- Five Reserve HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters are deployed to Laughlin AFB, Texas. The search and rescue aircraft, aircrews and pararescuemen are on a one-hour alert.

-- And in a first for the Air Force, a U-2 surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft from Beale AFB, Calif., flew over the Gulf Coast on Sept. 22 to collect images before Rita hits the coast.

FEMA requested the unique mission by the 9th Reconnaissance Wing. The high-altitude jet gathered images of the region from Lake Charles, La., to Brownsville, Texas. Before and after photographs allow emergency officials to accurately measure the damage and plan future emergency relief and evacuation efforts.

The aircraft's optical bar camera is ideal for this type of mission because of its ability to capture high-resolution photographs of large areas, coupled with the ability to magnify those images, said Col. Domenick Eanniello, the 9th RW vice commander.

The U-2s are ready to gather more imagery of any devastation Rita may cause, he said.