Premiere airlift group responds to hurricane relief need

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Carolyn Viss
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The final two 317th Airlift Group C-130 and their crew members returned Sept. 15 after flying in support of Hurricane Ike relief efforts across Texas.

All together, starting early in the morning, seven Dyess crews flew 21 sorties in response to this crisis. They moved 98 passengers, 12 of which were medical patients, and 25.4 tons of cargo to and from Harlingen, Texas, S.E. Texas regional airport, Corpus Christi, and Beaumont.

This was part of a larger Air Force evacuation response which included dozens of Air Force bases across the country, said Lt. Col. Joseph Sexton, 317th AG deputy commander for operations. 

"Their main mission was putting U.S. Air Force aeromedical evacuation teams and crisis response teams in place to support the evacuations," according to Lt. Col. Thomas Seeker, 39th Airlift Squadron director of operations. "Just as Hurricane Ike was about to hit the coast, they flew through severe weather and focused on getting those aeromedical evacuation and crisis response teams out of harm's way."

The great thing about the C-130 is that it's a rugged aircraft, is all-weather capable (meaning it can be flown in low cloud ceilings and rain), and it can land in very small air fields, Colonel Sexton said. 

"We just responded to Hurricane Gustav," he said. "Last year, we responded to the wildfires in California, and a few years ago we responded to Hurricane Katrina. We train for our wartime mission and natural disaster missions, and we are perfectly suited for [both]. Even though we're just a piece of a larger, orchestrated effort, it's special to respond to and help people right here in Texas."