Airmen Continue Oil Spill Support

A mixed crew of Air Force Reservists from the 349th Air Mobility Wing at Travis AFB, Calif., and active duty from the 60th AMW at Travis flew the Coast Guard’s Pacific Strike Team from California to Mobile, Ala., to provide urgently needed additional equipment and support to battle the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Capt. Adam Walsh, the C-17 aircraft commander from the 349th AMW, said, “For such a short notice tasking, everything went quite smoothly.” It was a first for the Coast Guard unit, which normally transports its equipment, including the 10 656-foot inflatable booms, on trucks. Crews operating the two C-130H aerial spraying aircraft from the 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown ARS, Ohio—among the first DOD assets engaged in the relief effort—have flown more than 18 sorties, dispensing about 29,000 gallons of oil dispersal agent over about 6,000 acres. (Travis report by SMSgt. Ellen Hatfield; Youngstown report)