Arctic Warriors deliver relief to Haiti

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Laura Turner
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Elmendorf Air Force Base crew members from the 517th and 249th airlift squadrons ran from van to jet carrying heavy bags and pelican cases back and forth. It's day 13 since the four Elmendorf crews first arrived at Charleston AFB, S.C., to support Haiti relief effort.

"I'm excited to be a part of this," said Staff Sgt. Carol Ann Kemmis, a 517th AS crew chief. "It's not every day that something of this scale happens. It's a once in a lifetime experience."

The day the crew arrived, 37 C-17's from an assortment of bases across the U.S. sat on the ramp at Charleston. The Elmendorf crew was given 12 hours of crew rest and then put on 48-hour on-call status. From the time they are alerted by command post they have three hours to take off.

Never really knowing when the command post will call, the crew is kept on their toes from the start of their alert time. Elmendorf's first alert was received Jan. 21 at 5 p.m. All were ready to go within 30 minutes of the call and headed to Pope AFB, N.C., to pick up cargo, which they would then deliver to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Cargo for this mission included Army vehicles, personnel and pallets of relief supplies.

Flight time to Haiti is approximately three-and-a-half hours from Pope AFB. Landing and unloading took the crew about 90 minutes with plenty of air support coming fast behind them. Landing and unloading was so fast the crew was unable to take any cargo or passengers out of Haiti as delaying would take up valuable ramp space for in-bound aircraft. However, the next mission made up for any want of return passengers on the first.

The second alert call was received Jan. 23. The crew had the same orders to stop at Pope AFB and load six pallets of water, two Army Humvee's with personnel and trailers of relief supplies. The command post informed the crew they would be taking back 80 orphans, 10 handlers and some displaced Haitian families, a total of 193 passengers.

Loadmasters, Tech. Sgt. John Stone, 249th AS, and Senior Airman Robert Villa, 517th AS, immediately began getting seats ready and laying straps to secure passengers that would be sitting on the floor. Volunteers helped spread blankets throughout the jet and usher people on-board while luggage was stacked and strapped securely in place at the rear of the aircraft. Order was slowly taking place and, at least until 80 children urgently needed to use the restroom.

The next stop was Orlando, Fla., where the crew was to drop off their half-smiling and half-weepy group of grateful passengers. Most of the orphans had either their maternal or adoptive parents waiting there for them.

"In my 14 years of service, carrying out those orphans has been by far the high point of my Air Force career," said Maj. Ben Douglas, 249th AS.

The third mission, Jan. 29, proved to be less chaotic if not nearly as memorable. Only 97 passengers were brought back to Orlando, most of them civilian medics as well as a few military members and Haitians. They clapped when the jet took off and applauded once more upon landing, grateful for the crew that brought them to safety.

This crew would wrap up with one final alert Jan. 29. After that alert a replacement crew was put into place at Charleston, ready to take over as some of Elmendorf's crew members made their return home.

"It was a sad but gratifying mission," said Maj. Vincent Shrigley, 517th AS aircraft commander.