Air Force and Army Task Force Provide Aid in Peru

Air Force Staff Sgt. Tristen Wachter uses a forklift to load medical supplies onto a pallet on Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, Aug. 16, 2007. Wachter is assigned to Soto Cano’s 612th Air Base Squadron. Airmen and soldiers based in Honduras are deploying to Peru to support relief efforts in the wake of an Aug. 15 earthquake.

Air Force Master Sgt. Michael Freeman and Capt. Ebony Weston, Soto Cano Medical Element, pack supplies on Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, Aug. 16, 2007, for the Mobile Surgical Team’s deployment to Peru to assist with earthquake relief efforts.

From left: Army Sgt. Patrick Dickens, Master Sgt. Alvaro Magana and Master Sgt. Dan Cockrell, load supplies onto a pallet Aug. 16 for the Mobile Surgical Team’s deployment to Peru to assist with earthquake relief efforts.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Edward Slavin secures a vehicle inside a C-130 aircraft on Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, Aug. 17, 2007. Slavin is a crew chief assigned to the 135th Airlift Squadron, Maryland Air National Guard. About 30 soldiers and airmen are responding to the Aug. 15 earthquake in Peru, bringing equipment and 4,470 pounds of medical supplies for relief efforts.

Air Force Senior Airman Kenneth Cumbie drives a forklift to load medical supplies onto a C-130 aircraft on Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, Aug. 17, 2007, to deliver aid and supplies to Peru in the wake of an Aug. 15 earthquake. Crumbie is assigned to the 612th Air Base Squadron on Soto Cano

Air Force Senior Airman Kenneth Cumbie, 612th Air Base Squadron, loads medical supplies onto a C-130 aircraft on Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, Aug. 17, 2007, to deliver aid and supplies to Peru in the wake of an Aug. 15 earthquake.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Edward Slavin inspects the exterior of a C-130 aircraft on Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, before a relief mission to Peru Aug. 17, 2007. Slavin is a crew chief with the 135th Airlift Squadron, Maryland Air National Guard.

Air Force Senior Airman Brandon Krantz, left, and Tech. Sgt. Will Morales configure the interior of a C-130 aircraft on Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, before a relief mission to Peru Aug. 17. Krantz and Morales are both loadmasters with the 135th Airlift Squadron, Maryland Air National Guard.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Will Morales, left, and Senior Airman Brandon Krantz, both loadmasters with the Maryland Air National Guard’s 135th Airlift Squadron, configure the interior of a C-130J aircraft on Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, before a relief mission to Peru Aug. 17. Soldiers and airmen are responding to an Aug. 15 earthquake in Peru, bringing 4,470 pounds of medical supplies for relief efforts.

Senior Airman Jason Caswell drives a high humvee inside a C-130J aircraft while Staff Sgt. Andre Talltree checks for clearance on Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, Aug. 17, 2007. They are with 612th Air Base Squadron. The vehicle is being deployed to Peru to support a humanitarian relief mission in the wake of an Aug. 15 earthquake, along with a Mobile Surgical Team from Soto Cano.

U.S. Air Force photos by Tech. Sgt. Sonny Cohrs

By Senior Airman Shaun Emery,
USAF Special to American Forces Press Service

PISCO, Peru, Aug. 18, 2007 - A team of airmen and soldiers from Joint Task Force Bravo at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, arrived here yesterday to provide medical care to those suffering in the aftermath of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake that devastated the region Aug. 15.

The task force is the first American force to touch down in Pisco, joining other relief personnel from all over the world. Members of the Soto Cano Medical Element are equipped to treat up to 500 people without resupply.

"We will be able to provide basic medications, treat minor wounds, as well as perform a few minor or major surgeries," said Lt. Col. (Dr.) Robert Rush, the medical element's chief of surgery.

As citizens of Pisco begin the tedious process of reconstruction, there is a chance for additional injuries, officials said.

"If we need to treat additional traumas as people sift through rubble and debris, we will be able to take on those cases as well," Rush said. In an area where basic medical care is in short supply, members of Joint Task Force Bravo are ready to provide everything they can.

"This is an opportunity for the United States military to use its medical care capabilities in an austere environment," said Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jesus Antillon, assistant noncommissioned officer medical technician charge for the element.

"This is what we train for. It is the reason we conduct exercises for all different scenarios -- so we can support other nations in times of need."

The Soto Cano task force, which comprises about 30 U.S. military personnel, includes a mobile surgery team, communications specialists and a small security detail.