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Air Force Reserve C-130 crews flying flood relief missions in Pakistan

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kari Gradishar
  • U.S. AFCENT Combat Camera Team
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Aghanistan --  Air Force Reserve Command C-130 aircrews and support personnel in the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing here are responding to Pakistan's call for assistance following the devastating floods that began July 29.

Two Reserve C-130s along with aircrew and support personnel from the 908th Airlift Wing, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., currently deployed to Afghanistan, are delivering aid and food supplies to stricken regions of the country.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, more than 1,500 people were killed and nearly million homes destroyed. An estimated one-fifth of the country is under water, displacing nearly 14 million people. The disaster has affected more people than the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and 2010 Haiti earthquake combined.

Master Sgt. John Metcalf, an Air Force Reserve C-130 loadmaster deployed to the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron was in "complete awe," when he first saw the devastation.

"I've (seen the effects of Hurricane) Katrina in Mississippi and Louisiana, and I'm not going to say that it topped that, but it gave me the same feeling... towns and farms and buildings just under water," said the Montgomery, Ala., native.

U.S. military cargo planes have delivered more than 60,000 pounds of food and relief supplies from Rawalpindi to Sukkur as part of the $90 million in U.S. support relief efforts in Pakistan.

Lt. Col. Ken Ostrat, an Air Force Reserve C-130 pilot deployed to the 746th EAS, was taken aback by the widespread devastation.

"As we left Islamabad, you could tell the rivers were a little bit high," said the Prattville, Ala., native. "As we flew south towards Sukkur, which is downriver, you could see the widening of the river as the floodwaters continued to go further over the banks of the normal river channel.

"By the time we got to Sukkur there were thousands of acres flooded, virtually the entire area. Farms, small villages and houses were completely inundated with water for miles in every direction," he said.

The crew from the 379th AEW is just one of many elements of support in the worldwide relief effort in Pakistan. The Pakistan-run flood relief center receives and dispatches relief supplies to include food, water and shelter donated by numerous countries.

"It was rewarding to see the international power that is going in to bring relief to those people in Sukkur and all the other downstream regions in Pakistan that were affected," said Colonel Ostrat, describing the various country labels he's seen on relief supply packages. Other contributing nations include Korea, China, Russia, Australia and many others.

The United States is expanding pre-existing programs in flood-affected areas, providing temporary bridges and mobilizing significant U.S. military and civilian resources to rescue victims of the disaster and deliver needed supplies. There are currently 18 U.S. military and civilian aircraft in Pakistan and three aircraft based in Afghanistan in support of flood relief operations.