USAF bases—active and reserve—from the Florida panhandle to New Orleans worked to brace up their facilities to meet the emergency of Hurricane Katrina, the killer storm with 140+ mph winds coming ashore. Aircraft were moved to other locations and stop movement orders were issued (see DR, 8/30/05). Air Force Reserve Command’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Keesler AFB, Miss., tracked Katrina for the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The wing’s C-130s launched at regular intervals for 12-hour weather data missions.
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…