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Air Force deploys FEMA to aid Haitian victims

  • Published
  • By Pascual Flores
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Nine specialists from the Federal Emergency Management Agency departed Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Saturday bringing communication support to military and government agencies actively engaged in recovery efforts in Haiti.

The FEMA team is part of the Mobile Emergency Response Support out of Maynard, Mass.

The combined efforts of loading supplies and equipment onto a C-17 Globemaster III from the 183rd Airlift Squadron, out of the Mississippi Air National Guard's 172nd Air Wing, fell on the hands of the aircraft crewmembers and Airmen from the 305th Aerial Port Squadron here.

Using hand and arm signals, ANG Loadmaster, Senior Master Sgt. Walter Chapman, from Miss., guided drivers from MERS onto the aircraft, utilizing all available space for the vehicles and other supplies urgently needed by the rescuers in Haiti.

The Incident Response Vehicle (similar to a mobile command post) - loaded onto the aircraft at the weight of 25,860 pounds and measuring at 187 feet - as well as three other all-wheel-drive vehicles would swing into immediate operation once landing at Port-Au-Prince Airport, bringing communication to the various government agencies via satellite uplink and radio frequency.

With the last of the vehicles onboard, aerial porters loaded four pallets of meals, destined for the hungry people of Haiti.

Having driven down Thursday from Massachusetts to McGuire, the team of eight men and one woman will later meet-up with their fellow team members, who will provide generators, a water-purification unit and other supplies.

"This is our first deployment to a non-American country," said Jay Antonangeli, MERS Security. Mr. Anatonangeli, a former Marine from Concord, Mass., has been with FEMA for six years.

Colleen Higgins, the only woman to accompany the team, has been with FEMA for 35 years and unlike her male coworkers has no military background. "I learned through on-the-job training," she added "and have been to so many disasters that I couldn't even count them."

After landing in Tampa, Fla., to pick up a security team, the flight resumed its leg of the journey to Port-Au-Prince where it was met by Airmen of the 621st Contingency Response Wing from JB MDL. The CRW has been providing assistance at the airfield unloading supplies and loading aircraft with American evacuees since their arrival to Haiti, Thursday.

"For the past three days we have been unloading supplies and equipment and loading evacuees onto the aircraft," said Tech. Sgt. Lindell Johnson. "To me, it feels good to be here; you see the impact of your work and efforts ... you see you're making a difference."

With the pallets of food unloaded, the drivers of the FEMA vehicles drove off the aircraft ramp to begin their mission of providing communications.

"We just want to make sure to do all we can to make this operation successful for the Haitian people," concluded Pat McCann, Telecommunications Manager for FEMA.

As the JB MDL team began the last leg of their journey, the FEMA team made their way into the midst of chaos, their mission just beginning. All cargo and passengers safely on the ground, the C-17's engines roared to life with New Jersey set as the next destination.