Travis airlifts critical aid in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations

Personnel from Texas Task Force 1 Search and Rescue ready their gear prior to loading it onto a C-17 Globemaster III at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 9, 2017. The Task Force will conduct relief operations in support of Hurricane Irma in Puerto Rico. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Charles Rivezzo)

Travis airlifts critical aid in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations

Equipment and supplies are uploaded onto a C-17 Globemaster III at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Forth Worth, Texas, Sept. 9, 2017. The aircraft airlifted personnel and equipment from Texas Task Force 1 Search and Rescue to Puerto Rico in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Charles Rivezzo)

Travis airlifts critical aid in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations

Equipment and supplies are offloaded from a C-17 Globemaster III at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, Puerto Rico, Sept. 9, 2017. The aircraft airlifted personnel and equipment from Texas Task Force 1 Search and Rescue to Puerto Rico in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Charles Rivezzo)

Travis airlifts critical aid in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations

Senior Airman Courtney Johnson, 15th Airlift Squadron, directs a communications vehicle into the cargo bay of a C-17 Globemaster III at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Forth Worth, Texas, Sept. 9, 2017. The aircraft airlifted personnel and equipment from Texas Task Force 1 Search and Rescue to Puerto Rico in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Charles Rivezzo)

Travis airlifts critical aid in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations

Tech. Sgt. Milton Knight, left, and Senior Airman Courtney Johnson, right, loadmasters assigned to the 15th Airlift Squadron, survey cargo that will be uploaded onto the C-17 Globemaster III at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 9, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Charles Rivezzo)

Travis airlifts critical aid in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations

Travis airlifts critical aid in support of Hurricane Irma

A C-17 Globemaster III sits on the flightline Sept. 9, 2017, at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., prior to supporting Hurricane Irma relief operations. The mission was part of a Department of Defense priority to support authorities in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Charles Rivezzo)

Travis airlifts critical aid in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations

Travis transports critical aid in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations

Published Sept. 10, 2017
By Staff Sgt. Charles Rivezzo
60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III departed Travis Air Force Base, California, during the early morning hours Sept. 9, 2017, enroute to Puerto Rico to deliver a team of search and rescue personnel assigned to Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Texas Task Force 1 in support of Hurricane Irma relief operations.

The task force forward deployed from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, where its equipment and supplies, which included communications and alterrain vehicles as well as medical supplies and self-sustaining support assets, were uploaded onto the aircraft and flown to Puerto Rico.

This team of highly skilled individuals is designed to be logistically self-sufficient for the first 72 hours of operation and can function for up to 14 days under remote and austere conditions.

According to Ken Wright, the task force’s team leader, the forward deployment to Puerto Rico was assigned hours after the team returned from supporting relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey.

Hurricane Irma skirted Puerto Rico Sept. 6, causing waves of up to 30 feet off the capital San Juan.

Although the U.S. territory avoided a direct hit, its infrastructure was badly affected - more than half of the island's three million residents were without power and officials said many could be cut off for several days.

The airlift mission focused on the overarching Department of Defense priority of working with support authorities in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico to protect the lives and safety of those in affected areas.

Capt. Bryan Adams, 15th Airlift Squadron C-17 aircraft commander, said airlifting support and rescue elements into the area underscores the Air Force’s ability to have the right capabilities at the right place at the right time.

“Our job is to answer when called upon,” he said. “It’s a privilege to be able to bring support to the Puerto Rico and Caribbean region.”

The successful delivery of the task force to Puerto Rico, is just one of several missions currently being executed out of Travis Air Force Base in support of recent hurricane relief operations. Travis deployed a 10-bed patient staging facility and 28 airmen earlier in the week to St. Croix, to support patient movement from Schneider Regional Medical Center, St. Thomas, to Puerto Rico.