America at its best!

  • Published
  • By Colonel Michael R. Boera
  • 374 Air Expeditionary Wing vice commander
UTAPAO, Thailand (AFPN) --  At various times throughout my 23 years in the U.S. Air Force, I have taken the opportunity to write articles for my hometown newspaper in Vermont for my family and friends to read and for home base newspapers where I’ve been assigned.

My editorials included my personal thanks for the support I received during Desert Storm, my perspective of combat air operations over Northern Iraq during Operation Provide Comfort, and my heart-felt thoughts after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on America.

Today, I write you from Royal Thai Naval Air Station Utapao here where I am deployed in support of Operation Unified Assistance, the humanitarian relief mission in support of the tsunami victims in Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

I have made a livelihood of flying F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft and am currently assigned as the 35th Operations Group commander at Misawa Air Base, Japan. A couple of weeks ago, I was preparing to fly a local combat training mission when I received a call from my boss. I was basically told to get some shots and pack my bags because I was being sent to Thailand to help stand up the 374 Air Expeditionary Wing. About 24 hours later, I was landing at Utapao airfield.

The mission of the wing is to provide support to the intra-theater airlift units, mostly flying C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft and HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters, sprinkled around workable airfields in the affected countries. We are the Air Force piece of Combined Support Force 536, commanded by a U.S. Marine lieutenant general. I have never been involved in a humanitarian relief effort and now I am involved in one rivaling that of any relief effort -- ever!

It has been my honor to serve in such an operation. As much as I miss being away from my family and flying the F-16, it gives me great satisfaction to be involved in a relief and recovery operation versus the typical combat operation I am so familiar with, and which usually involves some sort of destruction. This is America at its best!

It is also the America that doesn’t make the headlines very often, or the lead story on our top TV news stations’ telecasts. In fact, this relief operation is probably not the lead story in the United States any longer.

Please keep in mind, the mission continues…

Obviously, I am involved with the U.S. military aspect of the mission. We are but one piece of the puzzle to bring much-needed disaster relief to the victims, but a significant piece at this stage of the effort.

Gradually, we will let civilian governmental and non-governmental organizations take over the bulk of the effort and most of us will return to our home stations. When I do, I hope to pick up where I left off; say “hello” to the family and get back in the cockpit of an F-16 to once again train for combat operations.

Until then, I am proud to be a part of this relief mission. It is America at its best!