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Stewart ANGB supplies relief effort

  • Published
  • By Airman Sean Crowe
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
STEWART AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, N.Y. --  Guardsmen worked day and night to offload hurricane-relief supplies Nov. 3, since Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the United States' Northeast Coast.

The guardsmen here offloaded utility trucks, utility workers and water off C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.

Utility workers are staging relief efforts to New York and New Jersey. Relief efforts include returning power to areas that lost power due to the storm and providing supplies to those unable to acquire basic amenities.

The 105th Airlift Wing assumed responsibility for the staging effort.

"The storm is putting the wing (located near major Northeast communication lines such as Route 87, Route 84, the Hudson River, major rail lines and Stewart Airport) to the test as the wing stands up an Aerial Port of Debarkation mission with less than 12 hours of notification," said Col. Timothy LaBarge, 105th AW commander. "The APOD mission is a great opportunity for the service members of the wing to participate in the mission. The mission is to prevent life and property loss as well as further pain and suffering. We are all grateful for the opportunity to help our fellow New Yorkers in the relief effort."

The 105th AW Airmen said they are excited to help transport water and utility vehicles to New Yorkers in need of assistance. This attitude helps them look past the fast-paced, tiring work they have been experiencing.

"Palletizing water to be sent to Long Island has kept us extremely busy, but helping those who the hurricane affected means a lot to us," said Master Sgt. William Muller, 105th Logistics Readiness Squadron load planning noncommissioned officer in charge. "I can't verbalize how rewarding it is to help people in our own backyard."

Airfield management personnel here said these relief efforts will provide plenty of missions for the wing in the near future.

The 18th Air Force tasked the wing, who then tasked Chief Master Sgt. Dan Wessburg, 105th LRS aerial transportation superintendant, to task traditional Guardsmen (Part-time) to augment and reinforce active Guardsmen (Full-time) with offloading 69 utility vehicles from southern California, said Master Sgt. William Muller, 105th Logistics Readiness Squadron load planning noncommissioned officer in charge.

These utility vehicles will be working to repair power lines damaged by the hurricane. Many people remained without power long after the storm.

"The lack of heat is the biggest issue in our house without power; it's extremely cold at night," said Tech. Sgt. Sarah Pastorello, 105th AW public affairs specialist. "It's nice to see so many different people come in for the same reason: to help the people."