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McChord jets spell relief to India

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MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. (USTCNS) --- A 4th Airlift Squadron C-141B Starlifter was the first U.S. aircraft to touch down in Ahmedabad, India after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake shook the region Jan. 26.

The Tanker Airlift Control Center tasked the Starlifter and its crew to divert to India to deliver a Tanker Airlift Control Element (TALCE) from the 633rd Air Mobility Support Squadron out of Kadena Air Base, Japan, according to Maj. Balan Ayyar, 4th AS deputy officer.

Four 7th Airlift Squadron C-17 Globemaster IIIs continued the relief efforts arriving shortly after the C-141 Saturday. The C-17's took off here late Jan. 31 and flew direct to Andersen Air Base, Guam, with the help of a KC-135 out of Kadena that air refueled the planes over the Pacific Ocean. In Guam, they met up with C-5 Galaxies from Dover and Travis Air Force Bases, transferred cargo then continued on to Ahmedabad.

The supplies included 9,920 blankets, 10,882 sleeping bags, 92 large tents, a 2 and a 1/2-ton truck to carry supplies, two large forklifts and two 400-gallon water trailers.

The mission required 20 C-17 crewmembers, eight flying security forces troops, four flying crew chiefs and six maintenance troops, said Maj. Dean Steele, the C-17 mission commander from the 7th AS.

Along with the help from the United States, India has seen an outpouring of humanitarian relief efforts from Russia, Poland, Kuwait and even neighboring Pakistan - a long-time enemy.

With the TALCE crew pre-positioned, the C-17s flew in and down-loaded their cargo. The last 7th AS crew that arrived took the TALCE crew back out and returned home Tuesday.

"This is our business," said Maj. Mike Phillips, a 7th AS aircraft commander on the mission. "Doing this kind of mission is what we live for."

Phillips said the aircraft held up well to the tasking and that the maintainers assigned to the aircraft did a good job when called on.

"The only time we needed them, they had the part standing by, they fixed the problem and we kept going," he said. "They did a good job."

Although early reports warned of poor visibility and high bird strike possibility, Phillips said neither was a factor during his stead in India.

"There we're poor visibility warnings because the amount of smoke generated a lot of haze," he explained. "But when we got there, it was better than they had forecasted it to be." (FROM MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE PUBLIC AFFAIRS).

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