U.S. Air Force delivers humanitarian cargo to flood-stricken Tajikistan

Published May 16, 2010
By Capt. Justin Brockhoff
618th Tanker Airlift Control Center Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- An Air Mobility Command C-17 Globemaster III delivered approximately 100,000 pounds of humanitarian supplies valued at $250,000 to Tajikistan May 16, following two weeks of flooding and mudslides in the nation, according to AMC officials.

The flooding, caused by heavy annual rains, killed at least 24 and destroyed homes, schools, and flooded hundreds of roadways according to open-source media reports. The cargo delivered by U.S. forces includes tents and other supplies to provide temporary shelter for families displaced by the disaster.

The C-17 and its crew are assigned to the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, part of U.S. forces deployed to Southwest Asia for Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. They flew the mission from their deployed location in U.S. Central Command to Kulob, Tajikistan, approximately 70 miles southwest of Dushanbe, the Tajik capital. The mission was operated in coordination with the U.S. Army's 321st Civil Affairs Brigade.

The mission was planned, tasked and command-and-controlled by the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott AFB, Ill. As 18th Air Force's hub for global operations, the 618th TACC plans, schedules and directs a fleet of nearly 1,300 mobility aircraft in support of strategic airlift, air refueling, and aeromedical evacuation operations around the world.

"The C-17 crews and aircraft that make up the expeditionary airlift squadrons are deployed primarily to provide airlift and airdrop capabilities to OIF and OEF," said Capt. Dan O'Keefe, a C-17 pilot and the lead 618th TACC mission planner for the relief mission. "But our operations are flexible and the missions we coordinate from the 618th TACC can move other requirements when and where they're needed."

Planning for a humanitarian effort is a more complicated compared to everyday planning for missions flying in Iraq and Afghanistan, added Captain O'Keefe.

"In this case, we're moving away from the established process we have for flying missions in OIF and OEF and adding more layers of coordination since we're flying into a different country," he said. "It has taken continuous, ongoing communication with CENTCOM officials, direct coordination with the Defense Attaché's Office at the Embassy in Tajikistan, and more."

The response in Tajikistan comes while AMC forces are still actively engaged in recovery efforts in Haiti, following the 7.0-magnitude quake that devastated the nation in mid-January.

"Our role as Air Mobility Command's execution arm is to support the needs of U.S. and coalition troops around the world, but we can quickly shift our operations to support a humanitarian operation when a disaster strikes," said Brig. Gen. Randy Kee, the 618th TACC vice commander. "That was the case when we started operations in Haiti in January, and again when we delivered supplies to Chile after an earthquake there a couple months later. Now, we're working to answer that call again, this time in Tajikistan -- all while continuing to fly missions in support Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom."