Aerial spray team prepares to help Louisiana

Published Sept. 19, 2008
By Capt. Brent Davis
Public Affairs Officer

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Three more C-130s and 40 more reservists from Air Force Reserve Command's 910th Airlift Wing flew to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., Sept.18 to conduct aerial spray missions throughout southeastern Louisiana. Another C-130 and 10 reservists from the unit based at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, arrived the day before.

The aerial spray aircrews expect to spray about 120,000 acres of mosquito-infested Terrabone and LaFouche Parishes at dusk today.

Barksdale AFB was chosen as the base of operations for the aircrews and aircraft maintainers because of it's near the spray area, it's able to handle C-130H aircraft and it can support the mission without conflicting with other relief efforts.

The aircrews from the 910th Airlift Wing plan to spray southwestern Louisiana before moving to other affected areas. They are coordinating their efforts with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and state public health officials.

The crews will target primarily mosquitoes and filth flies. These insects are capable of transmitting diseases such as West Nile Virus and various types of Encephalitis. If the insects are not controlled, there is a high probability that people will contract these diseases, either in single incidents or in widespread outbreaks.

Each modified C-130H is capable of spraying about 80,000 acres per day. Spray missions normally take place at dusk when insects are most active.

"The product that will be used to combat the disease-spreading insects will be Dibrom," said Maj. Karl Haagsma, a research entomologist with the 910th AW. "It is an extremely effective material for mosquito control, and at the amounts that are applied, is an extremely safe material as well.

"Typically, we apply Dibrom at a rate of 1/2 to 1 ounce per acre," said Major Haagsma.. "When properly applied at these application rates, Dibrom is virtually non-toxic to humans, while eliminating a majority of the flying mosquito population."

Dibrom is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency and is currently used for many mosquito control programs throughout the country, according to the major. He said every effort will be made to ensure the public is informed about what areas will be sprayed on a daily basis.

The 910th AW is the only unit in the Department of Defense that is tasked to maintain a full-time, fixed-wing aerial spray capability. The Air Force Reserve Command unit uses four specially modified C-130H aircraft to conduct aerial spray missions to control insects, vegetation on military installations and oil spills.

In 2005, three specially equipped C-130s from the 910th AW sprayed for 38 days, covering 2.8 million acres of Louisiana and Texas in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)