From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Fri Feb 20 2009 - 16:11:57 EST
30 Patrick Air Force reservists head to Africa
BY NORMAN MOODY . FLORIDA TODAY . February 20, 2009
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE - A group of about 30 Air Force Reserve pilots,
aircrew members and support personnel from the 920th Rescue Wing's
HC-130P/N Hercules squadron will head to Africa to help support the war
on terrorism.
The airmen are scheduled to leave Monday on a two-month deployment to
Camp Lemonier at Djibouti, Africa.
"What's unique here is the 920th has a high operation tempo," said Capt.
Cathleen Snow, spokeswoman. "This is yet another deployment to another
theater of operation."
In recent months, the 920th Rescue wing has had airmen in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Germany and Africa.
The men and women leaving Monday will provide combat search and rescue
support to the Horn of Africa region, which is comprised of Djibouti,
Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. The mission falls under the command of
"Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa."
A variant of the Hercules, the HC-130 P/N has the ability to refuel
other aircraft in flight, which greatly increases the range of Air Force
combat rescue helicopters.
The 920th Rescue Wing performs combat search and rescue as it primary
mission, but is also responsible for civilian search and rescue,
humanitarian relief and support of all NASA shuttle and rocket launches.
To date, airmen have been credited with saving 2,000 lives.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090220/BREAKINGNEWS/90220015/1086