Message from CMS Lee Jacob
Just a little update about the school house at Keesler. The
following is an excerpt from and email:
- All ISC students are being evacuated to Sheppard. Only taking
what they can fit in a duffle bag--personal items remain behind
until they can get boxed and sent out to them. Schoolhouse
leadership is not accompanying them as they are remaining in
Biloxi--this seemed to concern Lt Col Sanjume. After asking if we
could do anything, she said, "just take care of the Airmen." There
are no plans to conduct training at this time.
- All other students (CWT, WOC) are being sent to gaining/losing
units
- Trainers and other permanent party members are tending to family
needs. As we know, Biloxi is a mess. There are initial indications
that base personnel will not only focus on getting base up and
running, but also on getting community on its feet. Lt Col Sanjume
was making the point that this may increase timeline for getting
schoolhouse up and running.
- Dorms held up very well. Schoolhouse has water damage as
observation deck was shattered and water penetrated lower floors--no
estimate of damage to equipment.
Obviously, shutting down the pipeline will reverberate across AFW.
Air Staff/AFWA stand ready to engage on any potential COAs.
Just wanted folks to know what was going on. Cheers, Jake
More
on what happened as Keesler met Katrina
Here's what has happened to our own USAF brethren at Keesler AFB,
Gulfport MS:
- Base housing was largely destroyed by a 25 foot wave
- There's 4 feet of mud in Maj Gen Utterback's house (2 AF/CC)
- MSG/CC house burned to the ground (gas leak caught fire)
- 6000 USAF members and their families are living in shelters
- The power will be out there for at least 3 weeks
- The 2nd largest USAF hospital (at Keesler) is closed
-- Seawater got into the generator and they have no power
- Commissary/BX mostly destroyed
- Runway is operational; it's the only open airfield in the
area
-- Day/VFR conditions only
- Gulfport Airport is closed for the foreseeable future
- The fence around the base is severely damaged
- Keesler had looters last night
-- Maxwell AFB is sending an SF detachment to reinforce the
Keesler SF
- Parts of I-10 are under water; at least one major bridge
is down
- Keesler has almost no communications (landline or cell)
-- They are relying primarily on radios
Heard that the Hurricane Hunters evacuated, but may have lost a
C-130J that they couldn't take with them -- it was still in
heavy maintenance.
Keesler, Columbus survive Katrina story from af.mil
Images from
Keesler DURING storm
Keesler Web site

Keesler
and Columbus Survive Katrina
Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., survived a direct hit by
Hurricane Katrina, but initial estimates show it suffered extensive
damage to industrial and housing areas. At Columbus AFB, Miss.,
about 290 miles north of Keesler, base officials said the pilot
training base suffered only moderate damage to one building.
However, assessment crews are just starting to evaluate the damage
there. There were no deaths or injuries at either base, according to
preliminary reports by base officials.
Click here for story.
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123011479
For more information on how you can help, go to the Air Force
Association website:
http://www.afa.org

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- As Hurricane Katrina struck the
base, rising waters swallowed parked cars. The base and the 6,000
sheltered military students, permanent party, civilians and their
families survived the Category 4 hurricane with no casualties. The
initial damage was catastrophic to base infrastructure. The base is
currently in the assessment and recovery stage. (U.S. Air Force
photo)

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Record low pressure, 125 mph
winds and high tides converged to create a storm surge that raised
the level of the Back Bay nearly 30 feet above normal. This restroom
lies between the 12th and 13th holes on back nine of the golf course
here. (U.S. Air Force photo)

COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. - The 14th Logistics Readiness
Division mobility processing hangar was the only building to receive
moderate roof damage from Hurricane Katrina. Although the hurricane
did not pass directly over the base, the base sustained more than
$765,000 in damage. Maximum winds reached 50 knots. (U.S. Air
Force photo by 2nd Lt. Jeremy Cotton)
AF Clarifies Hurricane Evacuation Entitlements
The Air Force wants to ensure that Airmen, their families and
Department of Defense civilian employees evacuated during Hurricane
Katrina are aware they may be eligible for certain entitlements.
Eligible members may be entitled to limited evacuation allowances
and expenses for lodging, transportation, meals and incidentals. The
allowances can be viewed by visiting the Air Force Personnel
Center's Personnel Readiness Web site at
https://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/readiness/.
Military Providing Full-Scale Response to Hurricane Relief
Effort
Joint Task Force Katrina set up Aug. 31 at Camp Shelby, Miss.,
as the Defense Department's focal point to support the Federal
Emergency Management Agency's relief efforts along the Gulf Coast.
Click here for story.
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123011498
Air Force Helping Hurricane Victims
Units and people from across the Air Force are supporting FEMA
and helping victims of Hurricane Katrina from Louisiana, Mississippi
and Alabama. Helicopters from the 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick Air
Force Base, Fla., flew to Jackson Miss., Aug. 30 carrying FEMA
assessment teams to areas affected by the hurricane. A C-130J
transport aircraft from the 403rd Wing at Keesler AFB, Miss., flying
out of Asheville, N.C., returned home to the base delivering
supplies to the base hospital. The 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell
AFB, Ala., geared up two C-130s, aircrews and aeromedical evacuation
people to help move people. A C-5 Galaxy from the 60th Air Mobility
Wing, Travis AFB Calif. and a C-17 Globe Master III from the 305th
AMW, McGuire AFB, NJ transported tanker airlift control elements and
contingency support groups to Gulfport and New Orleans International
Airports respectively. Another C-5 from Travis helped search and
rescue teams from California get to the affected area.
Fifteen HH-60s helicopters and crews from the 347th Rescue Wing
at Moody AFB, Ga., and the 16th Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt
Field., Fla have been positioned near the affected area in Jackson,
Miss., and crews were credited with saving stranded survivors of the
hurricane. Additionally, Critical Care Air Transport teams and an
obstetrics team from Wilford Hall Medical Center, San Antonio,
Texas, helped patients and expectant mothers evacuate Keesler AFB,
Miss., on Tuesday. The patients and pregnant women were evacuated to
Wilford Hall.
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, ARIZ - Approximately 100
Airmen and four HH-60G "Pave Hawk" helicopters from the 55th Rescue
Squadron headed to Jackson, Miss., to conduct search and rescue
missions in support of hurricane relief efforts. This deployment is
in addition to the more than 20 Airmen from the 943rd Rescue Group
who departed earlier to conduct rescue missions in the region hit by
Hurricane Katrina.

LAFAYETTE, La. -- Members of the California Governor's Office of
Emergency Services Special Operation Urban Search and Rescue team
unload emergency equipment here from a C-5 Galaxy from Travis Air
Force Base, Calif., on Aug. 30. The vehicle will be used for
Hurricane Katrina relief operations in Mississippi and Louisiana.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Candy Knight)
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, ILL - The Tanker Airlift Control
Center at Scott started generating missions that Air Mobility
Command aircrews will fly supporting Hurricane Katrina relief
operations in Louisiana and Mississippi. FEMA, through Northern
Command and U.S. Transportation Command, asked for airlift support
to fly relief supplies to the stricken region. "We've already tasked
two aeromedical evacuation airlift missions to fly from Keesler Air
Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., to Lackland AFB, Tex." , said Col. Jeff
Franklin, the center controller working hurricane relief mission
taskings. "In addition, AMC has been tasked to fly five other
strategic airlift missions into Lafayette Regional Airport in
Lafayette, La. Four of those are C-5 (Galaxys) and the other is a
C-17 (Globemaster III)."
A mix of total force Airmen from active-duty, Guard and Reserve
bases nationwide are flying the missions. They will move everything
from inflatable boats to urban search and rescue team members and
their equipment. Because airports and airfields in the Biloxi and
New Orleans areas are without power because of extensive damage from
the hurricane's high winds, rain and flooding, aircraft are
primarily flying cargo and people into Lafayette, located northwest
of the coastal areas.
The 615th Contingency Response Wing at Travis Air Force Base,
Calif., is flying into Lafayette on the first C-5 Galaxy aircraft.
"They will serve as an advance team to help receive the aircraft and
cargo, and will stay there throughout," Colonel Franklin said.
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - Air Force Special Operations
Command flew an MC-130 aircraft into New Orleans International
Airport with a team of special operations forces to work to reopen
the runway.
A team of combat controllers and a small medical team will work
to establish operations at the airport, which has no electricity or
air traffic control. Combat controllers are certified air traffic
controllers and special operators who can open airfields deep behind
enemy lines or in other hazardous areas. The combat controllers will
set self-powered lights and other navigational aids, then function
as air traffic controllers with portable radios so that other
military aircraft can land and help evacuate ill or injured persons
from the New Orleans area.
AFSOC has also flown more than 34 aircraft to Jackson, Miss., to
support Hurricane Katrina relief. The deployed aircraft include 19
HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters specifically designed to find and
recover individuals in hazardous areas. AFSOC has also deployed 11
C-130 aircraft with various special mission capabilities, including
helicopter refueling and the ability to operate from dirt or
unimproved airfields.
AFSOC has sent pararescuemen and combat controllers to Jackson to
work in conjunction with the aircraft. Pararescuemen are highly
trained emergency medical technician special operators. Combat
controllers and pararescuemen are accustomed to operating in the
most difficult and hostile conditions and are trained in numerous
special operations skills such as SCUBA and parachute operations.
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Beale sent a U-2 Dragonlady
out to collect needed imagery for disaster relief efforts. The
Optical Bar Camera, or film-based imagery equipment used, is ideal
for photographing very large areas with high resolution. In a
six-hour mission, a U-2 employing the OBC can collect imagery over
90,000 square nautical miles.
4th Air Wing-Texas State Guard - Airmen of the 4th Air
Wing have been called to unpaid state active duty to support the
relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The airmen are
serving as Red Cross shelter managers in the Beaumont-Port Arthur,
Orange and Baytown, TX area. They are part of a 200-person
contingent of the Texas State Guard from across the state that has
been activated for the effort. All the air wing personnel are
trained shelter managers in addition to being fully qualified
security forces technicians. They serve a 4 hour on 4 hour off duty
schedule, 24 hours per day providing for the needs of the shelter
residents.

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas - Airmen and their families depart
a C-17 Globemaster III after being evacuated from Keesler Air Force
Base, Miss., in the wake of Hurricane Katrina here Aug. 30. The C-17
and aircrew are from the Mississippi Air National Guard. (U.S.
Air Force photo by Senior Airman Heather M. Norris)
Guard, NORTHCOM respond to Hurricane Aftermath
Twenty-four hours after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf
Coast, about 7,500 National Guardsmen from Alabama, Florida,
Louisiana and Mississippi were on duty supporting civil authorities,
distributing generators, providing medical care, and setting up
shelters for displaced residents. In addition, National Guard units
and servicemembers in 17 more states were on standby, ready to
provide assistance as required in the wake of extensive damage,
rising floodwaters, and power and communications outages throughout
the region.
Click here for story.
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123011492
|