Air Mobility Command responds to USS Cole tragedy

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (USTCNS) --- Air Mobility Command men and women launched a round of efforts to numerous requests for airlift support in the aftermath of USS Cole tragedy that killed 17 sailors.

The Navy destroyer sustained a large gash in its side after the Oct. 12 suspected suicide bombing in Yemen, and remains in Aden harbor where divers are searching for six bodies still trapped inside the wreckage.

Members of a C-141 crew from the 452nd Air Mobility Wing, March Air Reserve Base, Calif., flew 33 survivors to waiting families and friends in Norfolk, Va., Oct. 15. Another six sailors more seriously injured in the attack remained at the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for further observation.

The reservists had just airlifted a team of medical personnel to Tunisia when they were asked to fly the mission. An active-duty trauma unit from Germany cared for the injured on the 9 ½-hour transatlantic flight.

On Oct. 13, a Reserve C-17 aircrew from the 315th Airlift Wing, Charleston AFB, S.C., flew the bodies of five of the 17 sailors killed in the attack on the Navy destroyer from the Middle East to Ramstein AB, Germany.

The aircrew was on temporary duty at Ramstein as part of the European Strategic Intra-theater Deployment operations when it got the request for assistance.

The next day another C-17 crew from the Charleston unit airlifted the remains of the five sailors to Dover AFB, Del., for port mortuary processing. As of Oct. 18, the remains of eight more sailor who died in the attack are schedule to arrive.

At Dover, which is home to DoD's largest mortuary, the arrival of remains for repatriation to the United States is not taken lightly, said Col. Neal Mills, 436th Airlift Wing vice commander.

"We know, that as a member of the military, we are sometimes called to give the greatest sacrifice any one person can give to his or her country -- our life. The Dover Team takes seriously the solemn task of preparing fellow service members for burial."

Brig. Gen. Jerry Black, 315th AW commander at Charleston added, "When something like this happens, we go that extra mile to provide support. Our hearts go out to the families of the USS Cole for their terrible loss."

Six members of Black's 315th Mission Support Squadron reported to Dover Oct. 14 as part of a 35-member, Reserve mortuary affairs team. The other volunteers came from Dover's 512th Memorial Affairs Squadron; 459th MSS, Andrews AFB, Md.; and 934th Services Squadron, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Air Reserve Station, Minn.

Command officials do not know how long the reservists will remain at Dover, said Marilynn Sanders, chief of plans and force management for the directorate of service at Headquarters AFRC.

"Our reservists are doing an absolutely great job," said Sanders, who was on temporary duty at Dover from her office at Robins. "We are really proud of their contributions."

On the active duty side, members from the 437th AW at Charleston launched a C-17 flight Oct. 13 from Andrews to Yemen carrying FBI members. Another crew left Oct. 14 and brought a Navy repair team from Norfolk, Va., to the scene.

As the recovery of those still missing continues on bard the USS Cole, the remains will be flown to Dover. AMC will continue to provide airlift support throughout the investigative and recovery efforts. (FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND AFRC NEWS SERVICE).