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Mobility Airmen in air refueling, airlift part of the equation in moving aid to Japan, stats show

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  To get a small glimpse at the measure of support mobility Airmen are providing for Operation Tomodachi in Japan, all a person has to do is take a look at statistics from the Tanker Airlift Control Center here.

Operation Tomodachi, derived from the Japanese word for friendship, is the operational name for the U.S. military response to the events of March 11, 2011. On March 11, an 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit many areas of Japan causing destruction. That was followed by a tsunami, triggered by the earthquake, which left even more destruction in its wake.

Since then, it's been a 24-hour-a-day effort by many agencies, people and aircraft just to get humanitarian aid into and around Japan. That effort has included support by mobility Airmen from Air Mobility Command.

TACC stats, which track only "AMC-controlled" sorties, show AMC Airmen completed 42 airlift sorties -- all by C-17 Globemaster III aircraft -- delivering 182 passengers and 273 tons of cargo between March 11 and 22 for Operation Tomodachi.

Additionally, on the air refueling side, AMC's mobility Airmen have supported three aerial refueling sorties by KC-10 Extenders that delivered more than 309,000 pounds of fuel to aircraft bringing cargo and personnel to Japan.

Mobility Airmen with Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Pacific Command have done even more than the TACC statistics show, officials said. However, even with a small look at the effort through AMC statistics, it may also demonstrate the level of effort mobility Airmen have supported in worldwide operations since Sept. 11, 2001.

According to an AMC talking paper -- entitled "AMC Snapshot" -- from early March, it shows AMC Airmen have off-loaded more than 13 billion pounds of fuel for U.S. military operations since Sept. 11, 2001. Additionally, the same talking paper shows airlift statistics where more than 16.4 million passengers and 6 million tons of cargo have been moved since Sept. 11, 2001.

All the statistics aside, however, mobility Airmen say they are proud to support humanitarian operations such as Operation Tomodachi.

"It's what we train to do, so it's nice to be able to put that training to use in helping the people of Japan," said Capt. Nate Amidon, a C-17 pilot with the 535th Airlift Squadron at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. "If we can help out and do our part, then that's what we'll do."

(Capt. Justin Brockhoff, Tanker Airlift Control Center Public Affairs, and Staff Sgt. Nathan Allen, 15th Wing Public Affairs, contributed to this report.)