Operation Dragon Comeback
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Operation Dragon Comeback Air Education and Training Command’s Response to Hurricane Katrina Dr. Bruce A. Ashcroft Dr. Joseph L. Mason Air Education and Training Command Office of History and Research Air Force History and Museums Program United States Air Force Washington, D.C., 2006 Preface The Air Education and Training Command’s response to Hurricane Katrina was a pivotal event in the organization’s history. Unlike previous storms that shut down training for a day or two, Katrina caused serious problems. In a fast-paced disaster response, often the information most significant to the historical record is not available in written documents, making interviews essential. This study rests solidly on a series of oral history interviews conducted at several AETC bases by the command’s historians with 65 members of the command and other participants in the relief effort. In addition, Dr Bruce Ashcroft and Dr Joseph Mason had extensive informal discussions with AETC members, and Dr Ashcroft attended meetings of the technical training reconstitution Tiger Team. Throughout the effort, AETC historians collected documents that underpinned the information gathered in interviews. The authors attempted to cover not only the hurricane, but also, and perhaps more importantly, the first few months of the recovery effort. Chapter 1 deals with the preparations and initial response to the devastation Hurricane Katrina wrought on Keesler AFB. It covers the first few days of digging out after the destructive storm, evacuating students to Sheppard AFB, and evacuating medical patients from the base, as well as the welcoming of Air Force evacuees to Maxwell and Columbus AFBs. Chapter 2 provides a historical overview of hurricanes at Keesler and covers the reconstitution of training. The command’s extensive involvement in humanitarian relief operations is the subject of Chapter 3. Because the leadership of the 97th Mission Support Group formed the nucleus for the 97th Air Expeditionary Group and, moreover, was assigned to Keesler to support the 81st Training Wing, their operations are covered here, though the group was under the operational control of First Air Force. Other significant topics in Chapter 3 are the evacuation of displaced persons from New Orleans to Lackland AFB and facilities on KellyUSA, the aerial port operations of the 314th Airlift Wing to receive international aid flights at Little Rock AFB, and the support provided to FEMA by the 42nd Air Base Wing at Maxwell AFB and the command’s medical community. Chapter 4 addresses the quality of life of Keesler members, and Chapter 5 covers the interim and long-term projects to rebuild Keesler. Operation Dragon Comeback was the name adopted by Keesler to describe the base’s hurricane recovery effort. Though AETC, in addition to reconstituting training at Keesler, played in important role in many other aspects of the national disaster response, we decided the name was a fitting title to describe the command’s overall effort. v The work was a collaborative effort. Dr Mason wrote Chapters 1 and 3 and the interim recovery section of Chapter 5, while Dr Ashcroft wrote Chapters 2 and 4 and the long-term recovery portion of Chapter 5. Mr Thomas Manning, command historian, edited the manuscript. Ms Ann Hussey, also of the AETC Office of History and Research, conducted several oral history interviews at Altus AFB, with the assistance of MSgt Rich Guinan, the 97th Air Mobility Wing historian. TSgt Logan Blackmon, 81st Training Wing historian, was instrumental in setting up interviews with key personnel at Keesler AFB and obtaining and copying source documents used in this study; Wall Studio generously opened their doors for three days in order to videotape these interviews. Mr George Cully of the Air Force Historical Studies Office shared the work of interviewing Keesler members with Dr Ashcroft, who also recorded many interviews at Sheppard AFB, with the assistance of Dr Dwight Tuttle and Ms Kathryn Miller of the 82nd Training Wing history office. MSgt Devin Driskell, the 314th Airlift Wing historian, conducted interviews at Little Rock AFB, and TSgt Tracy English, the 37th Training Wing historian, assisted with the interviews at Lackland AFB. Dr Mason interviewed members of Luke AFB’s 56th Fighter Wing as well as General Looney and CMSgt Rodney Ellison. Mr Richard Emmons, deputy command historian, and Dr Ashcroft interviewed several other members of the Headquarters AETC staff. We also thank all of those who helped to schedule the interviews, as well as TSgt Oscar Vega, who arranged for their transcription, and to the members of the command who candidly shared their experiences with us. When Maj Gen Michael C. Gould assumed the reins of Second Air Force, he visited HQ AETC and briefly toured the history office. Faced with the daunting task of rebuilding Keesler and resuming its training mission, he asked for what lessons the Air Force had learned in restoring bases stricken by past disasters. Unfortunately, most previous studies had succumbed to the temptation to comply with the “a big storm came, there was lots of wind and rain, and everyone was a hero,” genre. We consequently resolved to write, with the help of the men and women of AETC who directly participated in the hurricane response, a study that might prove more useful to future commanders. Any shortfalls in the attempt are ours alone. Bruce Ashcroft Joseph Mason vi Contents Chapter 1: Crisis Response ........................................................................................1 Hurricane Katrina......................................................................................2 Standup of Crisis Action Teams ................................................................3 Keesler Evacuation and Sheltering ...........................................................5 The Storm...........................................................................................................9 Landfall.......................................................................................................9 Initial Damage Assessment........................................................................15 Mississippi Gulf Coast................................................................................16 Initial Recovery..................................................................................................19 Keesler Airfield ..........................................................................................20 Communications and Hammer ACE ........................................................22 Services.......................................................................................................23 AETC Assistance to Keesler ..............................................................................24 AETC CAT .................................................................................................24 325th Services Squadron............................................................................25 823rd RED HORSE Squadron ...................................................................27 Command and Control of AETC Airlift Assets........................................28 Other AETC Support .................................................................................29 Evacuation of NPS Students ..............................................................................31 Decision to Evacuate..................................................................................31 Airlift of NPS Students ..............................................................................32 Receiving Students at Sheppard AFB........................................................33 Evacuation to Maxwell AFB..............................................................................37 Evacuees .....................................................................................................37 International Officers ................................................................................38 Columbus AFB ...................................................................................................39 Personnel Accountability..................................................................................39 Medical Aid to Keesler AFB..............................................................................42 Keesler Medical Center .............................................................................42 82nd EMEDS..............................................................................................43 HQ Second Air Force Relocation......................................................................47 Conclusion..........................................................................................................48 Chapter 2: Training....................................................................................................53 Hurricanes and Training at Keesler AFB..........................................................53 Hurricane Katrina..............................................................................................56 Reconstitution of Training ........................................................................59 Student Accountability..............................................................................78 Other Training Programs ..................................................................................80 JROTC.........................................................................................................80