Units fly relief missions before Hurricane Rita hits Published Oct. 21, 2005 ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Air Force Reserve Command airlift crews from at least three states flew to Beaumont, Texas, in preparation for Hurricane Rita before the storm made landfall. A C-17 crew from the 446th Airlift Wing, McChord AFB, Wash., took off Sept. 22 heading for Travis AFB, Calif., to pick up 400 patient litters and 800 cargo straps. The crew then flew to Beaumont where the equipment was supposed to be pre-positioned for possible use in evacuating non-ambulatory patients. After spending the night, the crew was redirected to fly the equipment to Lake Charles, La. “We appreciate being a part of the effort to ensure the safety of Americans put at risk by this storm,” said Maj. Keith Franke, an Air Force Reserve pilot who led a C-17 aircrew just a few days earlier transporting relief supplies to Mississippi’s Gulf Coast and New Orleans for victims of Hurricane Katrina. “We have a huge hauling capacity with this aircraft so we, along with other airlift units, can help make sure that what’s needed most gets to where it will be most useful.” A C-130 crew from the 440th AW, Gen. Mitchell International Airport Air Reserve Station, Wis., flew to Beaumont Sept. 22 to stage aeromedical evacuations from there to Little Rock AFB, Ark. The next day a C-141 crew from the 445th AW, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, arrived to pick up passengers or patients and airlift them to Dobbins Air Reserve Base outside of Atlanta. Both aircraft may be diverted to other locations as Hurricane Rita nears land. At Lackland AFB, Texas, the Reserve’s 433rd AW has two C-5 cargo aircraft on standby for hurricane relief. (AFRC News Service from unit news releases)