Despite Storm’s Devastation, Little Rock Units Deploy

Airmen and C-130s from the 50th Airlift Squadron at Little Rock AFB, Ark., deployed to Southwest Asia on Thursday, just three days after a tornado wreaked devastation on the base. “My hat’s off to our whole community for the extraordinary work they have done to take care of our deployers and their families while continuing to attend to the urgent needs of airmen and families impacted by Monday night’s tornado,” said Col. Mike Minihan, commander of Little Rock’s 19th Airlift Wing. This contingent is just the first wave of nearly 20 C-130s and 1,000 airmen slated to leave the base for deployments in the next week. “It takes a total team effort to weather a devastating storm and continue our base’s mission to support warfighters without missing a beat. I am proud of our people,” said Minihan. (Little Rock report by Arlo Taylor)