Aircrew returns after providing aid to Mexico

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nicole Leidholm
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Airmen from the 21st Airlift Squadron and 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron recently returned to Travis Air Force Base, California, after delivering aid and relief supplies to Mexico City.

At the request of the Mexican government, two C-17 Globemaster IIIs supported three missions to Mexico City and the southern state of Oaxaca to assist in relief efforts after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Mexico Sept. 19.

 “It was an absolute privilege to deliver hope to a nation in crisis,” said Lt. Col. Erik Fisher, 21st AS commander. “These missions constitute ‘grey-tail diplomacy.’ When a Team Travis aircraft lands amidst a humanitarian disaster and delivers aid, the feeling of accomplishment is palpable.” 

One C-17 and six aircrew members from the 21st AS and the 860th AMXS departed Sept. 20 to March Air Reserve Base, California, where they picked up a 60-member U.S. Agency for International Development elite disaster team from the Los Angeles County Fire Department urban search and rescue team. The team included five canines and 62,000 pounds of equipment and medical supplies.

From March ARB, the aircraft continued to Mexico City to deliver the cargo and drop off the teams to aid in search and rescue efforts.

The crew was put into an alert status, where they sat and waited for the call to go and do whatever was required of them to fulfill the needs of the people, providing aid and supplies to Mexico, said Capt. Adam Cooper, 21st AS pilot.

“The Airmen of the 21st Airlift Squadron are always ready to answer the call,” said Fisher. “Readiness and preparation is what we do. Our folks are trained to do a myriad of different missions, anything from the mission on the Korean peninsula to the mission in the Middle East, and part of that is preparing for humanitarian missions. Preparedness is a state of mind of being ready and flexible. With good training, our folks are able to be agile and do different mission sets and do them successfully.”

A second C-17 departed for Oaxaca Sept. 21, stopping first at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California, to load more than 31,000 pounds of hygiene and medical supplies from the Defense Logistics Agency. Supplies were delivered to Oaxaca the following day, where they were parceled and redistributed to the most affected regions in Oaxaca and Chiapas.

“I didn’t think anything special of it when I was sitting on alert, I didn’t think anything special of it when we left Travis, but as soon as we got on the ground there were hundreds of the Mexican military waiting there to receive the aid that we had,” said Cooper. “The Mexican military was waiting for us, our jet, specifically ours. When we landed, the ramp was clear and we opened up the back and they came in, taking down pallets and carrying out aid to load it on trucks to get it to the people that needed it.”

The same C-17 and aircrew returned Sept. 23 with an additional 100,000 pounds of food and water; however, after a powerful 6.1 aftershock struck Oaxaca that morning and damaged the airport runway, the aircraft diverted mid-flight to Mexico City to deliver the supplies.

“We intended to land and offload our cargo to Ixtepec,” said Fisher. “However, we were diverted in-flight to Mexico City, one of the busiest airports in the world, due to runway damage at Ixtepec.  The crew efficiently worked together to gather information, devise a plan, and safely execute our arrival in order to deliver aid to those in need.”

Logistical coordination, communication and teamwork were a constant throughout the mission. However, considerable flexibility was demanded of the 21st AS and 860th AMXS crew.

“Flexibility is the key to airpower,” said Cooper. “Going into a location, you have to remind yourself, ‘Hey, we’re going here, we don’t exactly know what the conditions are like, but we can prepare our best.’ We have awesome training, now it’s time to apply that training to that situation.”

Over the years, Travis has executed countless humanitarian missions around the world. The relief efforts in Mexico are just one example of how the 21st AS and 860th AMXS projects rapid global mobility, providing humanitarian relief supplies anytime…anywhere.

“The men and women of the 21st Airlift Squadron ‘set the airlift standard,’” said Fisher. “They trust in one another and our exceptional community is unparalleled.  Our squadron makes the difficult seem easy, because of our Airmen’s phenomenal effort and incredible attitudes each time they don their uniforms.  It’s the privilege of my life to work for these incredible Airmen.”