Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Daniel Heaton | Senior Master Sgt. Maresha Lewis of the Mississippi Air National Guard works with...... read more read more
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SAN JUAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Puerto Rico – Post Hurricane Maria, the Puerto Rico Air National Guard within recent days worked with Air Force units from multiple states to open up “Space A” – space available – travel for military dependents to evacuate or temporarily relocate to the U.S. mainland.
Military personnel, retirees and dependents are able to travel on Air Force cargo aircraft on a space available basis, as a benefit of military service. Since the storm hit Puerto Rico, about 400 dependents were fortunate to be able to use the service and flown from the island to the U.S. mainland.
“We worked jointly with the Transportation Security Administration and the airport staff, to move military dependents off the island,” Capt. Daniel Rolon said, a logistics officer with the 156th Airlift Wing, Puerto Rico Air National Guard.
“The biggest challenge was coordinating the movement of all those people in a building with no power, no air conditioning to then take them out on to the flight line and keep them safe on a very busy airport tarmac,” he said.
To lessen the hardship on PRANG Airmen and their families afflicted by Hurricane Maria, the PRANG collaborated with TSA and Aerostar, LLC. to transport military dependents off the island of Puerto Rico to afford peace of mind and enhance mission focus to PRANG Airmen.
Staff Sgt. Abiezer Diaz, a 156th Command Post controller, is a PRANG Airman who utilized Space A transport to move his family off Puerto Rico. Diaz has consistently worked 12-hour night shifts since the hurricane hit the island Sept. 20. While he was gone overnight, his wife was concerned about their family’s safety – as was he. In the first night after the storm, someone siphoned the fuel out of his personnel vehicle at his home, leaving him without transportation for a day.
“So, we made the decision that she and our son would go to Florida,” Diaz said. “In this situation, you have to make decisions quicker than you wish.”
“We had $110 in total in cash. I gave it all to her and said, ‘Use it wisely.’ Now, I am OK because I know they are going to be OK. God knows when we will be together again,” Diaz said.
Rolon’s team from the Puerto Rico Air National Guard operated the military personnel terminal at the airport for two days, before turning it over to relief teams that arrived from the Mississippi and Connecticut Air National Guards to take over the mission. The Small Air Terminal teams from those two states are staffing the military dependent flight operations desk at San Juan International Airport 24-hours per day.
“I believe we helped alleviate some of the stress on the Puerto Rico Airmen, knowing that we were going to get their families safely on a jet,” said Senior Master Sgt. Allen Rickles from the 186tht Air Refueling Wing in Mississippi.
“When Hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi a decade ago, the National Guard from other states came in to help Mississippi. So now, I only have one goal: to give the people of Puerto Rico 210 percent of my effort while I am here,” he said.
The movement of military passengers is beneficial for all current and former Department of Defense personnel who qualify. Army Sgt. Jonathan Pinentelsanchez came home on emergency leave from Fort Benning in Georgia to bring his teenage daughter back to Georgia with him. The daughter had been living with her mother in Puerto Rico.
“I need to know she’s OK,” he said.
Pinentelsanchez was able to catch a cargo aircraft flight to Savannah, Ga., for himself and his daughter. From there, he planned to arrange a ride to Fort Benning.
Rolon said with the volume of airlift coming in to Puerto Rico, finding space for personnel to catch a ride on military aircraft returning to the mainland is no longer a challenge, now that the operation is established.
“We will continue to run this mission, as long as it is necessary,” Rolon said.
| Date Taken: | 10.01.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 10.07.2017 19:20 |
| Story ID: | 250960 |
| Location: | PR |
| Web Views: | 294 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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