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AETC bases provide support for hurricane relief

  • Published
  • By Capt. John Severns
  • AETC Public Affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Air Education and Training Command bases across the southern United States continued preparing for Hurricane Ike today with the arrival of medical teams, transport aircraft, and the preparation of facilities to handle tens of thousands of evacuees.

Hurricane Ike, a massive Category 2 hurricane churning through the Gulf of Mexico toward the Texas coast, is predicted to make landfall sometime Saturday morning.

Several AETC bases are involved in the evacuation and support effort. Some of the more notable contributions include:

Lackland Air Force Base, Texas 

· Declared a Base Support Installation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, providing lodging for up to 1200 personnel and 10k feet of warehouse space 

· Hosting one C-130 and four HH-60s from the Texas Air National Guard for post-hurricane Search and Rescue operations 

· 37th Medical Group and 59th Medical Wing personnel on-call throughout the hurricane; two C-130s carrying special -needs patients being evacuated from Beaumont, Texas, have already arrived 

· Additionally, the 59th Medical Wing has deployed Critical Care Air Transport Teams to support medical evacuations from areas affected by the hurricane 

Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. 

· FEMA staging area; currently hosting 26 personnel 

Altus Air Force Base, Okla. 

· The Air Force has moved more than a dozen airlift and transportation aircraft to a staging area at Altus Air Force base, including 10 C-17s, five C-130s, and one C-5. These aircraft can provide unprecedented air transportation capabilities to emergency managers, if the situation requires their use 

Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. 

· Numerous aircraft and several Critical Care Air Transport Teams have already flown aeromedical evacuation missions out of the affected areas, and are standing by to provide additional support 

Randolph Air Force Base, Texas 

· More than 500 truckloads of commodities are being stored in trailers at Seguin Auxiliary Field 

· 150 Search and Rescue personnel will arrive soon, joining five HH-60 and one C-130 SAR aircraft already on station to assist in recovery efforts after the storm passes 

For more information about AETC's involvement in the Hurricane Ike preparation and recovery efforts, contact AETC Public Affairs at: 210-652-4400.