AFSOUTH officials guide Air Force Haiti relief effort

by Tech. Sgt. Eric Petosky, 12th Air Force Public Affairs

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) -- Airmen from across the United States are participating in the Haitian earthquake joint relief effort while the as Air Forces Southern members guide the effort from hundreds of miles away in the Arizona desert.

Air Force officials have an integral role in the relief efforts, from reopening the Toussaint L'Ouverture Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and dedicating hundreds of hours of flight time to airlift aid into Haiti, to help maximize efficiency of airfield operations and providing emergency medical care to Haitian citizens in need.

As soon as the earthquake struck, AFSOUTH planners started collecting information to formulate a way to best use Air Force assets. As the air component to U.S. Southern Command, the combatant command responsible for Central America, South America and much of the Caribbean including Haiti, the AFSOUTH functional staff immediately implemented around-the-clock operations to determine how best to support Operation Unified Response.

"The primary duties of the AFSOUTH staff here are to deploy, sustain and eventually redeploy Air Force forces assigned to Joint Task Force-Haiti," said Col. Bryan Bearden, the AFSOUTH director of operations and plans. "We have to get the right people, equipment and supplies, in right the place, at the right time, to support the men and women on the ground. Within the two-week period that has passed since the earthquake, AFSOUTH has moved mountains to support Haiti and the international community to bring supplies in. We'll continue doing that, while sustaining the forces down there with supplies of their own."

More than 600 Airmen are currently participating in Operation Unified Response in Haiti.The initial Air Force response included special tactics teams from Hurlburt Field, Fla., who helped restore air traffic control at the airport and participated in search and rescue missions. In addition, Airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Group at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., deployed to manage airfield operations as relief flights started arriving from all over the world.

As the operation progresses, AFSOUTH officials will replace those contingency response units with regular Air Force units, that requires a great deal of planning and coordination, Colonel Bearden said. The expertise of people serving in various functional areas is key to keeping the flow of Airmen, supplies and equipment constant.

For example, the personnel and services directorate is responsible for validating, tasking and tracking the Airmen who have deployed, but also providing food and water. The complicated process involves coordination with many different agencies, but the staff is getting the job done, said Maj. Sherard Dorroh, the 12th Air Force headquarter squadron section commander.

"We are no-kidding putting boots on the ground," Major Dorroh said. "It has been a bittersweet success, though, because it comes on the heels of what happened to the people of Haiti. But, what we do puts people in a position to provide relief to the Haitian people. That's our motivation; we have to get our stuff done right."

In logistics and installations and mission support functional areas at AFSOUTH, logisticians in a variety of specialties make sure the forces, supplies and necessary equipment arrive in Haiti and can be sustained. A major function of the logistics section is synchronizing movement of Air Force assets with other service components.

Since airlift has been the primary means of delivering relief supplies, the order in which things arrive has to be logical and efficient, said Lt. Col. Konrad Cote, logistics and installations and mission support deputy director.

The logistics staff has worked on everything imaginable, from establishing a tent city capable of housing 1,250 Airmen, to moving firefighting equipment, security forces and even ambulances. In total, Air Force officials have moved 8,376 short tons of cargo and delivered 6,145 passengers to Haiti.

"The logistics planning process in a very dynamic and unsure environment has been our greatest success and also our greatest challenge," said Colonel Cote, noting that being able to establish an air expeditionary group in two weeks is a great accomplishment. "I'm blessed to work with 30 highly skilled, highly motivated professionals."

More than 125 Airmen and civilians from six Air Force specialties at AFSOUTH are actively involved in planning Air Force relief efforts for Operation Unified Response.

"I'm continually impressed with the ability of our Airmen to perform under pressure and the capability our Air Force brings to the joint and international community responding to this crisis," he said. "Our team has performed magnificently thus far. There is still a lot of work to do and I have no doubt the men and women of this headquarters are still up for that challenge."

AFSOUTH Airmen participate in Exercise SALITRE II

by Tech. Sgt. Eric Petosky, 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) Public Affairs

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) -- More than 190 Air Forces Southern Airmen are representing the United States during Exercise SALITRE II, a Chilean air force-led coalition exercise which began Oct. 17 and ends Nov. 2, in Antofagasta and Iquique, Chile.

SALITRE is a coalition air exercise, including search and rescue, aerial refueling and combined air operations center training opportunities focused on interoperability, according to Col. Bryan Bearden, the 12th AF (AFSOUTH) director of operations and exercise director for U.S. Air Force participation in SALITRE. In addition to Chile and the United States, France, Argentina, and Brazil will also participate.

"SALITRE is an opportunity for Airmen to practice working with their counterparts from across Latin America," Colonel Bearden said. "We're training together so we can respond to a crisis or integrate into United Nations peacekeeping operations as a unified team in the future."

During the exercise, aircraft from all participating nations will simulate a wide variety of operations in a realistic peacekeeping, non-combatant evacuation and humanitarian response scenario. In addition, participants will exercise command and control of a simulated air campaign involving fictional scenarios within a combined air operations center.

Scenarios within SALITRE will have broad application across many spectrums of conflict or civil support, including support of UN-type responses worldwide, Colonel Bearden said.

For example, during one scenario, rescue personnel will secure an airfield and tend to patients as part of a unified team. This type of response is vital to ensure countries are able to respond to situations with their own military and law enforcement resources. Simulated peacekeeping operations will prepare participants to support UN-type coalition operations, such as global peacekeeping and stability missions, enforcing no-fly zones or patrolling for pirates. Non-combatant evacuation operations simulated during SALITRE II will prepare nations to support civilian authorities after earthquakes, floods or hurricanes.

Other training opportunities planned for SALITRE include high-altitude airfield landings, a key skill for cargo pilots in Latin America and for U.S. aircrews supporting operations across the region.

"While the training uses fictional scenarios, the skills participants will practice during SALITRE are meant to prepare them to not only work together as part of a larger coalition, but also to support local law enforcement, first responders and civil defense forces," Colonel Bearden said.

"Each of the participating air forces -- French, Argentine, Brazilian and Chilean -- brings a unique skill set and aircraft to the mission, and each of the participants are equally valuable to the success of the exercise," Colonel Bearden said. "These different skill sets help to make SALITRE the robust training environment participants expect in today's modern Air Force exercises."

The majority of the U.S. presence is located at the Cerro Moreno Air Base in Antofagasta, Chile. Another group of Airmen is working out of the Diego Aracena AB in Iquique, Chile.

The U.S. Air Force will be represented by:

-- 2 HC-130 Hercules aircraft from the 71st Rescue Squadron at Moody AFB, Ga.

-- 2 KC-135 Stratotankers from the 197th Aerial Refueling Squadron from the Arizona Air National Guard in Phoenix.

-- 6 F-15C Eagles from the 122nd Fighter Squadron from the Louisiana Air National Guard in New Orleans.

Not only will airmen work together in the sky above the Atacama Desert (the wilderness in the northern portion of Chile), they're also planning a series of community outreach events. Airmen from each partner nation air force will team up to showcase aircraft to local leaders, meet with area children and provide interactive learning opportunities during after-school activities.