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Airlift group prepares for tomorrow's disasters today

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Robert Hicks
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  "We train to save lives and answer the nation's call at a moment's notice, so others may prevail," said Col. Dan P. Dagher, 317th Airlift Group commander.

The C-130 delivers hope not only to service members, but to families in other countries through medical evacuation, humanitarian missions and airdrops.

Natural disasters happen every year. Japan experienced an earthquake in 2010. Pakistan suffers from floods and Haiti has earthquakes. I'm preparing my airmen today for tomorrow's natural disasters, Dagher said.

"To save lives and sustain our nations operations, we can't wait to be ready when that phone call comes in. We have to be ready in advance," Dagher said.

Dyess Air Force Base maintainers and planners, with eleven C-130s, participated in a mass formation training to ensure the bases ability to launch all available C-130s at a moment's notice.

Flying integrated with six C-130 Super Hercules and five C-130 Hercules is something no other unit in the world is doing.

The interfly gives us the ability to practice these techniques so if we were called upon to fly integrated in a time of crisis, it will be something we already practiced, said Lt. Col. James Bruner, 40th Airlift Squadron commander.

"It's pretty rewarding being able to deliver the supplies people need either in a humanitarian crisis or a contingency operation," Bruner said. "The C-130 has the ability to haul a lot of valuables whether its food and water, medical teams or helping evacuees."

In 2010, six Dyess C-130 Hercules aircraft were called upon to support relief efforts following the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation of Haiti Jan. 12, 2010. They delivered more than 138,100 pounds of cargo including 10 High Mobile Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, four "Gators," six-wheeled-vehicles, two all-terrain-vehicles, one trailer, one power cart, one water pump and two pallets of Meals Ready to Eat.