HURLBURT FIELD, Fla.
-- Air Force Special Operations Command personnel have
saved 519 people as of Thursday, conducting around-the-clock
operations staged from Jackson, Miss.
Currently, 25 HH-60 helicopters and
more than 100 Air Force pilots, pararescuemen, combat
controllers, medical and support personnel are assisting
the efforts to remove the injured, ill and stranded from
the flooded streets of New Orleans.
AFSOC's HH-60s are capable of air-refueling
and night operations, enabling the non-stop rescue effort.
Several of the command's HC and C-130 Hercules aircraft
are staging out of locations in Patrick Air Force Base,
Fla., and Moody AFB, Ga., to refuel the helicopters and
provide supplies to the units located in Jackson, New
Orleans International Airport and Naval Air Station New
Orleans where rescue and medical teams have been aiding
in the relief efforts.
AFSOC has been staging rescue missions
into New Orleans from Jackson, Miss., since Tuesday and
is ferrying survivors to collection points and area hospitals
depending on the care required for the individuals.
Airfield operations at the New Orleans
International Airport and NAS New Orleans are continuing
with the aid of AFSOC combat controllers teams who've
been in place since Aug. 31. The combat controllers set
battery-powered lights and operate other navigational
aids, then function as air traffic controllers with portable
radios allowing military aircraft to land and take off.
HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters
are specifically designed to find and recover individuals
in hazardous areas. Pararescuemen are highly trained emergency
medical technician special operators. Combat controllers
and pararescuemen are accustomed to operating in the most
difficult and hostile conditions and are trained in numerous
special operations skills such as SCUBA and parachute
operations.
