Photo By Greg L. Davis | Airmen of the 552nd Air Control Wing prepare an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control...... read more read more
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The 552nd Air Control Wing’s 965th Airborne Air Control Squadron provided humanitarian support in the wake of devastating flooding in the Houston, Texas area. The squadron began flying one E-3 Sentry aircraft daily in an orbit over the western side of the city on 29 Aug 2017. The aircraft launched out of Tinker AFB and the average sortie duration each day was 16 hours with support from U.S. Air Force air refueling aircraft.
According to Lt. Col. Bruce Avriett Jr., commander of the 965th AACS, the 552nd ACW launched its third consecutive E-3 AWACS sortie 31 Aug 2017, to support ongoing search and rescue efforts in Houston, Texas and surrounding areas. The initial call for support came from 601st Air Operations Center located at Tyndall AFB, Fla. the night of 28 Aug. The tasking was to launch the alert E-3 flown by the 965th AACS, proceed to the Houston area and establish communications with the various local, state, and federal agencies on scene.
“Since the first flight on 29 August, the role of the E-3 evolved into not just communication relay, but rather a critical coordination hub between the Western Air Defense Sector, Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center, an Air Support Operations Squadron, and over 80 Search and Rescue Aircraft,” said Avriett,
Examples of information passed included hospital availability, the status of over 14 helicopter landing zones, seven airfields for fixed wing aircraft, and coordinates for the location of the most critically ill survivors. The information being gathered on board the aircraft enabled crews to prioritize and direct assets where they were needed most.
“The original expected duration for support of this tasking was seven days; however, the 552nd ACW stands ready to support indefinitely," said Avriett.
| Date Taken: | 09.05.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.05.2017 12:12 |
| Story ID: | 247131 |
| Location: | OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 260 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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