Photo By Staff Sgt. Angel Oquendo | Staff Sgt. John May, aerial port load crew member with the 123rd Contingency Response...... read more read more
Subscribe
MUNIZ AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Puerto Rico – A Kentucky Air National Guard unit opened an emergency aircraft cargo and personnel handling center at San Juan International Airport, creating a vital operations link with the U.S. mainland as the island struggles to deal with the devastation left by Hurricane Maria.
The hurricane hit the island on Sept. 20, leaving the entire island without power, very limited communications capability and scores of other challenges.
The Kentucky ANG’s 123rd Contingency Response Group – the only such unit in the Air National Guard – arrived at San Juan airport, the largest on the island, two days after the storm hit. By the first night, the CRG was operational and began receiving cargo-laden aircraft.
The CRG is essentially an “airport in a box.” It brings cargo handling, passenger processing and related capabilities to either a combat scenario or, as is the case in San Juan, in a humanitarian/disaster relief crisis.
Col. Bruce Bancroft, the CRG commander, said this mission is critical to serving the island’s people.
“When we deploy to a combat zone, we are serving Uncle Sam. We go to [Hurricane] Harvey, we go to [Hurricane] Maria – we are helping our own family. This is a family helping a family,” Bancroft said of his command of approximately 40 personnel on scene.
The CRG is allowing the civilian airport authority to work toward resuming regular airport operations without also having to juggle dealing with arriving relief flights.
“They have their hands completely full,” Bancroft said. “We are able to relieve them of this burden.”
Earlier this year, the Kentucky CRG was in Iraq. They spent several days in Houston in response to Hurricane Harvey. Now, they are in Puerto Rico.
Staff Sgt. Derek Rigney is a security specialist with the CRG. He’s been a part of the unit for two years after spending four years on active duty in the Air Force.
“This is the unit I have been looking for my entire career,” he said. “It is a brotherhood out here, a sisterhood. Call it a family. I’m a cop by trade, but yeah, we’re helping to pull cargo off a plane. We know this cargo is going to help the relief effort for own people.”
The CRG is set up to allow two large military aircraft at a time to be loaded or unloaded. With electronic communications limited at best right now in Puerto Rico, the CRG often doesn’t have advance warning of aircraft arrivals until they visually see an aircraft taxiing into their areas. That’s how six aircraft ended up in their area at once at one point.
“Plans are great. Rigid plans are wonderful, if you can stick to them. But I have to prepare myself and my guys for Plan B, Plan C and then the plan you innovate on the spot,” said Master Sgt. Jason Sanderson, the crew chief who juggled how to service those six aircraft at once. “My wheels are always turning.”
Sanderson first joined the Air Force shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, inspired by the terror attacks to be in service to his nation.
“Every mission, we are serving the interests of the U.S. government, but this one? There’s a peace of mind that comes with this, I mean we are right here, doing the Guard’s mission of supporting the people. Especially in a U.S. territory. The volunteerism of the Airmen in the unit is incredibly high. They want to be on this mission,” Sanderson said.
Because the CRG is working a relief mission, they primarily work with military aircraft, but not necessarily with standard military cargo. Sometimes they are loading cargo that will eventually be unloaded at an airport where there is not military-grade unloading equipment.
“Yesterday, we had a John Deer tractor and a high-pressure washer,” said Staff Sgt. John May, who works with the aerial port load crew with the CRG. “So you have to get creative. People need this, how are we going to get it done. ‘No’ is just not going to work in this situation.”
The CRG is designed to remain in place 45-60 days and then eventually turn control either back to civilian authorities or another military unit.
“This is normal business for us,” Bancroft said. “We are used to working on the fly.”
| Date Taken: | 09.25.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.27.2017 09:49 |
| Story ID: | 249679 |
| Location: | PR |
| Web Views: | 129 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Kentucky ANG Opens Critical Operations Link at Puerto Rico Airport Following Hurricane Maria, by SMSgt Daniel Heaton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT