Dover C-17 crew transports evacuees

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Abigail Wise
  • 436th AW Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  In support of Operation Unified Response, a team of Dover Airmen escorted 36 evacuees from the Port-au-Prince airport to the United States on a Dover C-17 Globemaster III.

"I had never been on a mission to Haiti before, or transported evacuees, but it definitely was a good feeling," said Airman First Class Landon Greenwood, 3rd Airlift Squadron loadmaster.

Before the crew picked up the evacuees, they dropped off 90,000 pounds of relief aid, consisting of humvees, water, Meals Ready-to-Eat, truck parts and a generator. This was the first trip to Haiti for every crew member on board, said Maj. Paul Theriot, 3rd AS C-17 pilot and the aircraft commander of the mission.

"It was definitely an interesting mission, not something we get to be a part of every day," the major said.

Dover AFB is heavily involved in transporting cargo to and from Afghanistan and Iraq. Approximately 70% of the cargo comes through Dover before going to those locations.
"We are typically used to transporting young, motivated, heavily geared up troops. This group was a little more solemn and distraught, but it was definitely very satisfying being able to get them out of harm's way," said Major Theriot.

After the evacuees passed through customs, being operated by the U.S. Embassy, they wait for the next plane available, said Senior Airman Richard Drawdy, a member of the 621st Contingency Response Wing at McGuire Air Force Base, N.J. currently helping mobilize the evacuees onto cargo planes at the Port-au-Prince airport.

"Lately we've been getting about 800 evacuees passing through a day, but every day that number has been growing. We've transported more than 4,000 since the earthquake, and they are predicting another 6,000 in the next week," said Airman Drawdy. "The Embassy and the State Department are becoming more and more efficient with their process, which is why the number of people keeps increasing."

With the number of evacuees anticipated to continue growing, so will the need for transportation out of the country.

Once the crew made it to Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., they filled out some paperwork and went off to get some crew rest with the inclination that they would be back to Haiti very soon.