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Hurricane Katrina: C-5s fly for ‘the welfare of the people’

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Andrew Biscoe
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --  An Air Force Reserve Command C-5 Galaxy aircrew flew a cross-country mission Aug. 30 to pick up two rescue teams to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The crew from Westover’s 439th Airlift Wing airlifted 75,000 pounds of cargo and 29 passengers from March ARB, Calif., to Lafayette Regional Airport in Lafayette, La.
The passengers included swift-boat rescue teams, who will rescue people from flooded areas. The rescuers are from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the lead federal agency for hurricane relief efforts.

Another crew from Westover flew from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., to March, and a third C-5 from the New York Air National Guard’s 105th Airlift Group joined the airlift effort.

The urgency of the FEMA operation was evident by its organization. Two rows of vehicles – made up of inflatable rafts, fire trucks and a utility van – were quickly lined up behind the C-5’s towering tail in the darkness on the flightline at March.

“We’re bringing in the transportation for the distribution system,” said Col. Udo K. McGregor, one of the pilots on the mission and commander of Westover’s 439th Operations Group. Colonel McGregor saw the devastation in the south shown on TV and called Air Mobility Command headquarters.

“I told them we have an airplane and crew, and asked how we could help,” he said. “Within a few hours, we diverted a crew from Norfolk (Naval Air Station, Va.) and had another crew on standby at Westover.”

The hurricane relief mission was another “first” for Senior Master Sgt. Tracey T. Turner, a loadmaster with the 337th Airlift Squadron at Westover. Sergeant Turner was with the first C-5 aircrew to fly into Panama City in 1989 for Operation Just Cause, to oust dictator Manuel Noriega. And, the reservist flew one of the first humanitarian missions into Mexico City following a devastating earthquake in 1985.

“The (337th Airlift) squadron called me Aug. 28 and asked if I could do this,” Sergeant Turner said. “I said ‘Most definitely.’ I think we’re committed to doing what we have to do. I’m very proud. I know we’re going to be delivering much-needed supplies.”

Staff Sgt. Ryan Connolly, a flight engineer, gained tremendous satisfaction from the mission. “I know I helped people,” he told reporters during media interviews at Westover shortly after the C-5 landed Aug. 31.

Sergeant Turner and other crew members called this a “quick-turn” mission, which means that it would be shorter than others – which often exceed 24 hours. As it turned out, the C-5 returned to Westover by noon Aug. 31 – about 18 hours after leaving California. Because the C-5 regularly covers much of the planet on its missions, aircrew members are used to much longer trips.

“It’s not like we’re not used to it,” Sergeant Turner said. “This isn’t just a military mission; it’s a humanitarian mission. It’s for the welfare of the people.” (AFRC News Service)