349th Wing's Memorial Affairs Squadron assists in identifying remains of C-23 crash victims
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TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (USTCNS) --- Eleven members from the 349th Air Mobility Wing's Memorial Affairs Squadron departed for Dover Air Force Base, Del., March 6 to assist in identifying the remains of 21 National Guardsmen, victims of the March 3 C-23 Sherpa crash in Georgia.
In the Air Force Reserve Command, there are only two port-mortuary affair lead teams. One is at Dover, and the other is at Travis Air Force Base. Other bases have personnel in the career field, but are not a lead team.
After receiving a call from the AFRC, Master Sgt. Martin Walker, a senior Air Reserve technician with the 349th MAS, was tasked to ask for reservists to volunteer.
"Person after person said they could go, and could go now," Walker said. "The response was incredible."
Sixteen people said they could deploy, but AFRC only required 11.
The team led by Chief Master Sgt. Larry Lawson, a services superintendent, will be deployed for about two weeks.
While deployed, the team will try to identify remains through dental records or DNA testing, notify next of kin, help families with their affairs, and assist in providing military honors.
The team was given a critical incident stress briefing prior to their departure. The briefing will be repeated nightly while the troop is deployed and will be given again upon their return to Travis.
"Dealing with what they will have to deal with can really affect people in negative ways," said Walker. "Sometimes people don't realize how they have been affected until a couple of weeks later."
In addition to the briefings, the wing chaplain, Lt. Col. Newton Kerney, also departed March 7 to offer his services of companionship and counseling to the deployed Reservists.
The passengers of the C-23 Sherpa included 18 Virginia Air National Guard members. The aircraft's pilot and two other crewmembers were from the Florida Army National Guard's 171st Aviation Battalion. (FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).
Office of Public Affairs - transcom-pa@mail.mil
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