Operation Damayan bridges reservist's past to present

Published Dec. 17, 2013
By Dana Lineback
940th Wing Public Affairs

BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- For Staff Sgt. Jennyrose Whitney, the U.S. military's recent humanitarian assistance to typhoon-ravaged regions of the Philippines had a very personal significance.

As a young girl, Whitney lived in the Philippines.

The personnel specialist with the 713th Combat Operations Squadron, Det 1, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, still has family living there, including an older sister, brother, uncles, aunts and cousins.

The recent storm caused deep concern and brought back frightening memories for Whitney.

She vividly remembers Typhoon Wayne hitting the islands in 1986. One of the longest-lived tropical cyclones on record in the region, the system meandered for 22 days in the South China Sea and North Pacific Ocean, dumping heavy rains across the Philippines, Taiwan, and other parts of Southeast Asia.

"I was very young then. We lived in poverty, so our home wasn't that strong. I still remember seeing our roof flying off as we huddled in the house. There was nowhere to go. And I remember we didn't have anything afterwards. We were starving for several days. We had nothing before, and what we did have was taken away."

"The more I watched the news and looked at how this storm was coming in...it was a big worry. I was prepared for the worst. Not that I don't have faith and hope, but I was prepared for the worst."

After Typhoon Haiyan wreaked havoc on the central region of the Philippines, her reserve unit went out with a call for volunteers to augment Pacific Air Forces' Crisis Action Team in support of the military's operations to assist with the Philippine government's humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts.

"I let my unit know that if they needed me, I could help. But my priority was my family. I was trying to keep everyone here calm and make sure my family there was okay," Whitney said.

Just two months prior, a tropical storm had flooded her sister's home. Whitney said that was a very big concern as this typhoon approached.

"We were worried about her house again. But this time, nothing severe happened. They're far enough north of Manila, about 2 hours. She got lucky. "

Whitney said the lack of communication from family members in the wake of the disaster was stressful.

"There was a cousin who wasn't answering our calls or posting to his Facebook page," Whitney said. "We couldn't do anything to reach him. We just had to wait. It was really hard not to hear anything, but it turned out that his phone was just not working."

Once her family's situation had been resolved, Whitney was able to turn her attention to her job at the detachment. She was tapped to assist with readiness operations as the humanitarian mission was drawing to a close.

"By Thanksgiving, we were just trying to keep accountability of everyone that had deployed - who was coming home and who was staying behind."

Whitney said she feels fortunate in her career as an Air Force reservist and is grateful for the assistance her unit and others provided those living in the devastated region of her family's homeland.

"I feel like I'm the lucky one, gifted with a better future than the rest of my family and friends in the Philippines," Whitney said. "But the people in the Philippines are more humbling and caring then anyone who has tons of money."

"I'm especially thankful to my unit and to all the military and non-military that helped them out."