Mobility Airmen continue Haiti relief operations

Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., get off a C-130 Hercules Jan. 15, 2010, after arriving at Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The C-130, from the 2nd Airlift Squadron at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., brought the Soldiers to Haiti as part of the relief efforts ongoing in Haiti. U.S. Southern Command is deploying assets to Haiti to conduct search and rescue operations, damage assessments, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo)

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE Ill. (AFNS) -- Air Mobility Command Airmen have flown more than 470 sorties in support of Haiti relief efforts, rushing food, water and medical supplies to the people of Haiti.

In fact, since Jan. 13, AMC Airmen and aircraft have delivered nearly 2,250 tons of cargo and about 2,000 passengers to Haiti and evacuated nearly 2,000 American citizens from the earthquake-ravaged country.

Eight Little Rock AFB C-130 Hercules aircraft and their support elements are part of the massive Air Mobility Command airlift mission to support Haitian earthquake relief as part of Operation Unified Response.

Aircrews are flying missions to Haiti as part of an operation that has delivered supplies to the region.

Little Rock AFB's C-130 airlift mission has been crucial to the relief operation. An aircrew from the 41st Airlift Squadron was one of the first called Jan. 13 to support the relief operation. That aircrew left Little Rock AFB around midnight Jan. 13, then loaded personnel and equipment before dawn Jan. 14 at Biloxi-Gulfport International Airport, Miss., and delivered them to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the morning of Jan. 14. That crew is still forward deployed as part of the airlift effort.

"This is what we train to do," said Maj. Lewis Messick, the 41st Airlift Squadron director of operations. "Anytime we can be of assistance in cases like this, we're ready to do our job."

Airmen from Dover AFB delivered the Joint Communications Support Element to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, aboard a C-17 Globemaster III during the early morning hours of Jan. 16.

On the way to Haiti, the Air Force Reserve aircrew stopped at MacDill AFB, Fla., to load up the JCSE personnel and equipment.

The JCSE deploys ahead to provide early entry communication support for the regional combatant commands, Special Operations Command, and other agencies back in the U.S. The JCSE is set up within 72 hours to provide communication for the full spectrum of operations.

"We were prepared to do what we needed for this mission and there are more crews back at Dover on standby ready to be called upon," said Capt. Jim McCann, the C-17 aircraft commander.

"I have been watching to see if and when we would be called, and I knew that this might be our mission when I saw it in the system," Captain McCann said. "We train to do this and jumped at the chance to help the people of Haiti any way we can."

Three C-17 cargo jets assigned to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, left Jan. 19 for South Carolina to help in the relief effort. A fourth plane will leave Wednesday.

The teams will fly missions from Charleston AFB, S.C., to Haiti to bring in food, water and medical aid.

For the next two weeks, they will also evacuate those still in need of medical care.

Additionally, AMC continues to support relief efforts through transporting life saving medical supplies. Crews from Scott AFB loaded nearly 40,000 pounds of medical supplies into a C-17 bound for Haiti. Medical teams from across the command are posturing to provide medical assistance in Haiti.

82nd Airborne Soldiers Begin Haiti Deployment

By Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON - An initial contingent of 100 82nd Airborne Division troops deployed to Haiti around noon today, and another 800 soldiers will follow tomorrow to support disaster relief and humanitarian support.

A lead element from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 73rd Infantry, left Fort Bragg today, and the entire battalion, along with a command and control element from the division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, will join them tomorrow, said Army Col. Billy Buckner, 18th Airborne Corps public affairs officer.

Meanwhile, the 82nd Airborne Division's entire 2nd Brigade Combat Team – on tap as the U.S. global response force – "has been told to be prepared to deploy as needed or required," Buckner said.

"So they are prepped and ready to deploy. They have done all the things they need to do to get ready," Buckner said. "And should they be directed to deploy, based on the situation on the ground and additional resources, they are ready to do so."

As the global response force, the 2nd BCT is on 24/7 standby, ready to deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours. In that capacity, it trains for the full spectrum of missions – from forcible entry scenarios and follow-on stability operations to humanitarian aid and disaster response, Buckner said.

So when the first verbal order to prepare a brigade to deploy came at 4 a.m. yesterday, he added, most of the groundwork already was laid.

The initial elements are deploying with their own individual equipment and force-protection capability, but few vehicles, Buckner said. "A lot of logistics planning is being done, based on what's in the theater," he said. "But right now, the big push is the soldiers, going in relatively light without a lot of rolling stock."

Once in Haiti, their mission will center on humanitarian support and disaster relief, but Buckner said the soldiers also could provide security, if needed.

"They bring an ability to provide people to go out and assist immediately, to get on the ground very rapidly and to be able to assist the [joint task force] commander in whatever tasks and requirements he needs them to perform," he said.

Many of the deploying soldiers have served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, giving them experience Buckner said will prove invaluable supporting the Haiti mission. "They are used to deploying, and they are used to operating under very difficult and challenging circumstances," he said.

Ironically, the Fort Bragg military community, home of the 18th Airborne Corps and 82nd Airborne Division, is preparing for a major exercise later this month that will test, among other capabilities, its readiness to rapidly deploy its forces.

As part of the preparation, Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmlick, the corps commander, and his staff visited various sites around the installation that support deployments to get briefed about their operations.

The general made the comment, "Although we have been focused on Afghanistan and Iraq, we, as the 18th Airborne Corps, have to be prepared for the unknown."

"It's pretty ironic," Buckner said. "Twenty-four hours later, we get a call, 'Be prepared to deploy.'"

Air Force officials dedicate C-130 to Army's 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan

Servicemembers assembled on the flightline to tour a C-130 Hercules from the 440th Airlift Wing at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., Oct. 5, 2009, at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. The C-130 was dedicated to the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in honor of the cohesion of the Air Force and the Army in Afghanistan and was put on display for servicemembers to view the aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Felicia Juenke)

by Tech. Sgt. John Jung, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Air Force officials here dedicated a C-130 Hercules to the Soldiers of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division stationed in Afghanistan Oct. 5 at Bagram Airfield.

The transport was originally dedicated at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., Oct. 25, 2008, to Fort Bragg's entire 82nd Airborne Division based in North Carolina.

Tail number 79282 from the Air Force Reserve 440th Airlift Wing from Pope AFB has official nose art prominently displaying an American eagle in flight surrounding the iconic 82nd Airborne's insignia wings on the aircraft's fuselage. The plane also sports "Bragg-Pope" on its tail flash representing the close relationship between the Fort Bragg and Pope AFB.

Using the total force, an active duty crew deployed from the 2nd Airlift Squadron, an associate unit of the 440th AW, to fly the Reserve C-130 to Bagram Afghanistan. The crew included Capt. Alan Rathjen and Capt. Laura Easton, both C-130 pilots, and Staff Sgt. Matt Metz, C-130 loadmaster.

"The aircraft is being dedicated to the 82nd in honor of the cohesion of the Air Force and the Army in the fight in Afghanistan," said Captain Rathjen, a native of St. Louis who is assigned to the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron.

While the dedication was symbolic in nature, the tangible effects of the C-130 are felt every day by Airmen and Soldiers alike.

"A few days ago we airdropped (Meals, Ready to Eat) and water down to Soldiers at a (forward operating base)," said Captain Easton of the 774th EAS and a native of Pittsburgh. "It's the mission we trained for at the 2nd AS and (one) we're ready to employ here for the joint fight."

"I came here to be a part of history," said Army Master Sgt. John Plasse, assigned to the 38th Infantry Division and an Afghan national security forces liaison. "It's great to have something you've worked in, flown into and out of combat with ... and then it's gotten you home safely all those times ... dedicated to you and your fellow Soldiers."

Bringing critical supplies via airdrop to Soldiers on the ground is what the C-130 is suited to and is excelling at in Afghanistan. C-130s at Bagram Airfield average between five and eight tons of cargo per airdrop mission.

Continuing the overall mission to feed, fuel and arm the fight, September marked the fourth consecutive month in which an increase of supplies was airdropped by the Air Force to coalition partners and local citizens across Afghanistan.

In total, 4.1 million pounds of goods were dropped to forward operating bases, combat outposts and other austere locations in support of ground forces.

"It's our day-to-day job," said Sergeant Metz of the 774th EAS who is a native of Springfield, Va. "I'm proud to have brought this C-130 to Afghanistan for the dedication, but I'm more gratified being the loadmaster who gets to airdrop (supplies) to the guys on the ground."

Airdrops have proven to be a safe and reliable method for delivering vital supplies into locations where roads don't exist, the terrain is too mountainous, the cargo is too heavy for helicopters or where the insurgent threat is too great.

DoD Announces Afghanistan Force Deployment

The Department of Defense announces today the deployment of the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, from Ft. Bragg, N.C. The brigade will deploy approximately 2,800 soldiers to Afghanistan in the spring of 2009 to increase the capabilities of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Upon the recommendation of commanders on the ground, the secretary of defense approved this request, which will increase the level of forces and military capability for NATO-ISAF.

The United States continues to be NATO-ISAF’s largest troop contributor, and remains committed to leading the offensive in counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, training and equipping the Afghan national security forces and assisting with reconstruction. Force levels in Afghanistan are conditions-based and will be determined in consultation with the Afghan government and NATO.

82nd Airborne Trains to Re-assume Global Response Force Mission

By Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - If there's one thing that keeps the 82nd Airborne's deputy commander awake at night, he said, it's competing requirements that could threaten the division's ability to project no-notice combat power and conduct forced-entry missions.

Army Brig. Gen. William Mayville shared his concerns as the division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team trains to re-assume its role in June as the U.S. global response force. In this capacity, the brigade will be on 24/7 standby, ready to deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours.

Its mission, if called, would be to forcibly enter and seize a defended airfield, then build up combat power to support follow-on military operations.

The 2nd BCT will reclaim the longstanding 82nd Airborne Division role – one some say defines the All American Division's very existence. The 82nd passed the mission to the 101st Airborne Division last year when it was called to deploy to Iraq as part of the troop surge. At the time, the division's three other brigades were already deployed.

The deployment represented the first time since 2003 that the entire division was deployed from Fort Bragg.

"We shared the wealth with other people, because the whole 82nd was deployed," said Army Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Capel, the division's top noncommissioned officer. "We didn't want to leave the United States here without a force ready to answer the nation's call if they were called to do something. And so we started passing it around to other divisions to pick up the slack."

With the 82nd now enjoying what Mayville called "a rarity," with all four brigades now home, the 2nd BCT is training up to resume its role as the ready brigade. Plans call for it to assume the mission for a full year, rather than rotating it among the division's other brigades every quarter.

By mid-day Oct. 23, Mayville reported, the division already had conducted seven airfield seizure operations, dropped 36 heavy-drop platforms, conducted several tactical air-land operations and jumped more than 5,000 paratroopers, with another nighttime jump scheduled that night.

"It's important that we understand and maintain this fundamental requirement to project combat power and forced-entry missions," Mayville said. "So far, this is not a problem. ... But this requirement has got to compete with all these [other] near-term requirements," including operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mayville's concern is that readiness for the quick-response mission requires practice – not just by the paratroopers and the Air Force assets that deliver them, but by every entity that would support the mission.

"There is a lot of investment in this readiness business, and it has to be practiced," he said. "You have to have a force that has all the enablers that would be needed in an expeditionary environment, and they have to be ready and work together and train together."

Last week's airfield seizure training successfully incorporated these participants. But Mayville said he's concerned that when push comes to shove, current requirements could compete against future training opportunities.

"I worry about this," he said. "This is not an 82nd issue. This is a readiness issue."

Mayville said he brings up this concern every opportunity he gets. "Readiness and no-notice capabilities do not happen by accident," he said. "[They come] with foresight, with investment, with training – joint training.

"We just have to constantly remind ourselves that as hard as things are today, there is something out there that we don't see that we have got to be ready for," he said.

"There will be a call at a time not of our choosing that this nation is going to turn and say, 'Get something there now,'" he said. "And that doesn't just happen because someone made a phone call."