MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Team McChord Airmen supporting Hurricane Ike relief operations went off alert status Sept. 15 after completing taskings from the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center, the Air Mobility Command hub for planning and directing tanker and transport aircraft operations around the world.

"Our Airmen have done an outstanding job this week," said Col. Jon DeClerck, 62nd Operations Group deputy commander. "Whenever we get the call, we're ready to respond and mobilize. Any time, any place."

McChord aircrews maintained alert readiness here and at Altus Air Force bases from
Sept. 7 through Sept. 15.

A C-17 Globemaster III from McChord's 8th Airlift Squadron flew to Travis Air Force Base, Calif., Sept. 9 to pick up and deliver cargo to McAllen-Miller International Airport in McAllen, Texas, in preparation for Hurricane Ike. The crew then flew to Altus AFB, Okla. to stand on alert status. An additional crew from the 7th AS remained on alert at Altus for the duration of the storm.

Four other aircrews at McChord were also on alert status, ready to respond quickly to various relief scenarios related to Hurricane Ike.

When a hurricane is identified as having potential to strike the United States, the 618th TACC begins to posture mobility forces for various relief scenarios. This posturing may include placing aircraft and crews in alert status, meaning crews are on standby and ready to launch in three hours or less from notification.

The commander of U.S. Northern Command,  Gen. Victor E. Renuart, Jr. , and other senior  military leaders surveyed the Gulf Coast areas affected by Hurricane Ike Sept. 15 from HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters.

"We've seen an integrated team that has worked together pre-landfall and post-landfall to provide whatever Texas might need in terms of response to its citizens," General Renuart said. "Mother Nature doesn't discriminate, so we have to be in a position to try to help those citizens recover, respond and reconstruct their lives the best we can."

"There were varying degrees of devastation," General Renuart said. "The good news is the local communities are back out. The state is building the distribution points for water, food and ice to help the neighborhoods recover. The federal partners, (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and others are trying to build the kind of capacity that will allow the response to continue over time."

{AMC and Air Force News contributed to this article.}