AMC aircraft deliver emergency responders, vital cargo to Haiti

  • Published
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) --  Air Mobility Command aircraft and personnel are actively involved in relief operations in Haiti following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation Jan. 12.

During the past 24 hours, AMC coordinated five missions into Haiti delivering 113 personnel and 59 tons of cargo.

The first mission, a C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., transported an Urban Search and Rescue Task Force to the quake-stricken island. The 72-person team, California Task Force 2, included doctors, paramedics, structural specialists, rescue personnel, and six live-scent canines.

According to a Travis AFB spokesperson, it took only 16 hours from the time the Travis aircrew was alerted to the time the aircraft touched down in Haiti.

Other AMC missions included a C-17 from Dover AFB, Del., and C-130 Hercules aircraft from Pope AFB, N.C., and Little Rock AFB, Ark.

Additionally, Airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. are on the ground coordinating airport and command and control operations in Haiti, enabling the delivery of vital emergency response personnel and humanitarian equipment and supplies.

Additional AMC aircraft and personnel are on alert and ready to respond immediately to further relief efforts.

In fact, the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center Airmen, in close coordination with U.S. Transportation Command and U.S. Southern Command officials, are working around-the-clock, posturing air mobility forces to respond effectively, and planning and managing the missions as a coordinated effort. This is in addition to its continuing mission to support Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As AMC's hub for global operations, the 618th TACC leads mission planning and command-and-control for the AMC portion of the humanitarian effort. The center plans, schedules and directs a fleet of nearly 1,300 mobility aircraft in support of strategic airlift, air refueling and aeromedical evacuation operations around the world.