Dolphins fly to New Caledonia with Hickam C-17 crew

Staff Sgt. Ray Nealon watches as Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Elizabeth Jache pours water on her dolphin to keep him cool prior to transporting him from a C-17 Globemaster from March Air Reserve Base, Calif., to a C-17 from Hickam AFB, Hawaii, Nov. 8, 2009. Petty Officer Jache is one of the primary dolphin handlers in the Navy Marine Mammal Program based in San Diego. The Air Force active duty and Reserve C-17 aircrews transported four dolphins from the mammal program to Noumea, New Caledonia, where they will participate in Lagoon Minex 2009, which is a humanitarian project where U.S. Navy, French, Australian and New Zealand demolition crews will remove mines left over from World War II from the surrounding water of the area. Sergeant Nealon is assigned to the 735th Air Mobility Squadron at Hickam AFB. He is a native of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (Defense Department photo/Tech. Sgt. Cohen A. Young)