Airmen on rescue mission in flooded countries - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Airmen on rescue mission in flooded countries

Airmen took on another mission — a humanitarian one — after heavy monsoon rains caused massive flooding across northeastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan.

The flooding was the worst in decades in the two countries, already struggling under the weight of war. The death toll stands at more than 1,500 and nearly a million are without homes.

In Pakistan, C-130s and C-17s based in Afghanistan delivered more than 300,000 MREs, all prepared in a way acceptable under Islamic dietary strictures, according to the 455th Expeditionary Airlift Wing.

“Currently, the Pakistanis are suffering horrible losses due to the floodwaters,” Lt. Col. George O’Bryan, a C-130 pilot, said in a statement. “And anything we can do to help, we would like to do it.”

Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said they expect to send $10 million in aid. Helicopters belonging to the embassy’s narcotics affairs section rescued hundreds of Pakistanis and transported thousands of pounds of food and supplies to victims. The military authorized four CH-47 Chinooks and two UH-60 Black Hawks to help with relief work, an embassy spokesman said.

The U.S. is also sending four Zodiac inflatable rescue boats, two water filtration units that each can provide for the needs of 10,000 victims and 12 prefabricated steel bridges to replace those damaged by rising waters.

In Afghanistan, two Mi-17s flown by U.S. and Afghan pilots from the Kabul Air Wing flew 26 combat hours through severe weather to pick up more than 2,100 villagers in provinces near Jalalabad.

Kabul Wing commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Barat led the rescue mission after pleas for help from local government officials.

Villagers huddled on small islands surrounded by rushing water. They boarded 60 at a time into the transport helicopters.

Limited by the rains one day, the aircrews picked up about 300 Afghans who lived in villages next to Jalalabad. The next day, the airmen rescued more than 1,800 in the Kunar province, an insurgent-thick region on the Pakistan border.

Taliban fighters had fired 14.5mm machine guns at the helicopters on past missions. Lt. Col. Bernie Willie, deputy commander of the 438th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group, saw machine gun tracers darting past his cockpit.

“I had taken fire on previous missions,” he said. “They were not exactly friendly to us.”

On the rescue mission, though, Willie and his Afghan counterpart landed without taking any fire and villagers trudged with their families through the mud toward the helicopter. At some point, Willie noticed a white flag fluttering on a hillside.

“The Taliban is letting you know they won’t try to hurt you today because they know you are helping their families,” an interpreter told Willie.

Lt. Col. Greg Roberts, the 438th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron commander, flew on the second Mi-17. An HH-60 pilot, Roberts flew rescue missions in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

“I was at Katrina and I’ve been at Mozambique so I’ve done this a few times, but this was the most challenging thing I’ve done,” he said.

In the Kunar Valley, the water rushed by at 20 knots on some rescues and the crews constantly searched for rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, Roberts said.

U.S. and Afghan pilots faced low visibility and could fly no higher than 500 feet because of the rains. Despite the threats, Barat made sure his aircrews knew how important the mission was.

“General Barat saw fellow Afghans needed help, and it was the government’s responsibility to help them,” Roberts said.