Tyndall heading aviation efforts

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the military has dispatched dozens of aircraft to assist in relief missions across southeast Texas. The Navy has sent one Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime, patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, and an Air Force E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft to conduct air traffic control, surveillance, gather data on flooded areas, and provide situational awareness to the 1st Air Force (Air Forces Northern) operations center at Tyndall AFB, Fla., near Panama City. The mission is headed by the 1st AF Northern’s 601st Air Operations Center at Tyndall, which also houses the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Two Navy amphibious ships, USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) and USS Oak Hill (LSD-51), were to have set sail Aug. 31 from Virginia to the Gulf Coast to provide humanitarian aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit will depart aboard Kearsarge from Naval Station Norfolk. Oak Hill was to have departed from Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, according to the Navy. State and local agencies will be the lead for the response effort. Amphibs and LSDs were used for similar missions 12 years ago after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. The Navy has also deployed helicopters to the region. Two squadron detachments - Helicopter Sea Combat Squadrons (HSC) 7 and 28 - relocated to Easterwood Airport in College Station, Texas, Aug. 30 after making 227 Harvey-related rescues while flying out of Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth the day before. The 112 personnel moved their staging site and six MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters in order to be closer to the disaster zone allowing for reduced response times. Naval Aircrewman 2nd Class Jose Rodriguez, a native of Corpus Christi, flew his first rescue mission Aug. 30 and was anxious to help fellow Texans. (Source: USNI News and DOD Buzz 08/30/17) UPDATE INFO: Mary McHale, spokeswoman for AFNORTH, says the operations center at Tyndall Is currently using and monitoring 11 helicopters and seven HC-130J search and rescue aircraft, which are also acting as refuelers for others, including some Civil Air Patrol and as a cargo aircraft. There are no MQ-1 or MQ-9 drones being used at this time, she stated. (In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Navy also sent the hospital ship USNS Comfort to the Gulf Coast much to the objection of Mississippi’s governor. The ship was finally moored at the Port of Pascagoula.)