Dover C-17 Globemaster III crew delivers cargo to Haiti

Published Jan. 24, 2010
By 2nd Lt. Abigail Wise
436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Airmen from the 3rd Airlift Squadron flying a C-17 Globemaster III transported disaster relief supplies and military personnel to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 19.

The C-17 arrived in Haiti in the late evening of Jan. 19 with nearly 90,000 pounds of cargo to be dropped off in support of Operation United Response. That 90,000 pounds consisted of two high-mobility, multi-wheeled vehicles, or HMMWVs, a half-ton truck and four pallets of emergency supplies. Along with the cargo were 21 Soldiers deploying to Haiti. The plan was to drop off the cargo and pick up any refugees waiting to be evacuated to the United States.

This was the first mission to Haiti for the C-17 crew. Maj. Paul Theriot, 3rd AS C-17 pilot and aircraft commander, said "there was a lot of pre-planning for this flight due to the unfamiliar location and the low lighting."

As the pilots were flying, they used notes given to them by pilots who had previously flown this unfamiliar territory. The procedures are being updated with every crew that flies in to Port-au-Prince. Major Theriot's crew took notes regarding anything not yet documented about the flight path -- to be shared as well.

"Along with this being an unfamiliar location, there were a lot of airplanes in the air, including civilian aircraft," said Major Theriot. "The air traffic controller originally said to expect an hour wait to land."

The 612th Air Operation Center Air Mobility Division has been the air traffic controller of the air space over the Port-au-Prince airport, at the request of the Haitian government.

"Our biggest success story so far has been installing the Haiti Flight Operations Control Center at the 601st Air Operations Center at Tyndall AFB, Fla., to maximize the amount of aircraft able to land and deliver relief supplies every day. Now, instead of chaos and confusion, airlift is prioritized according to what the government of Haiti requests," said Colonel Romero, the AMD chief.

The AMD is flexible as the Haitian priorities continue to change on the ground. Sometimes certain cargo or support is required as quickly as possible. According to the air mobility commander, no plane has been refused since standing up the AOC.

"We are loading and unloading on average 150 planes a day, moving approximately 1,000,000 pounds of cargo a day," said Maj. Mathew Jones, a C-5 Galaxy pilot based out of Travis AFB, Calif., working in the Joint Operation Center for Operation Unified Response at the Port-au-Prince airport.

The holding area where all the cargo is transported to and from can hold up to 276 pallets, and people are constantly working to keep the cargo going to where it's needed, said Major Jones.

(Additional reporting by Tech. Sgt. Eric Petosky)