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Andersen team prepares Wake Island for aircraft
Air Force Link ^ | September 14, 2006 | Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo

Posted on 09/14/2006 4:20:17 PM PDT by HAL9000

9/14/2006 - WAKE ISLAND (AFPN) -- After Super Typhoon Ioke's 155 mph winds and driving storm surge devastated Wake Island Aug. 31, members of the 36th Contingency Response Group at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, made up the initial assessment team sent to the island.

"Prior to the storm the experts were all saying there would be no runway left to assess," said Maj. Pat Poon, the team commander.

"The thought was the waves and storm surge were going to erode the runway or at least cause some major damage, so we had to come by ship on the USNS San Jose out of Guam," he said. The ship left on the 1,500-mile journey Sept. 4 and arrived at Wake Sept. 8.

With 16 members, the team's primary objective was to check for structural damage in the runway, taxiways and parking ramp on the island's airfield. If they were deemed suitable for aircraft operations, team members were to begin clearing the airfield to allow landings.

The team was also tasked to determine if the military infrastructure on the island could be salvaged. They looked at power, utilities, structures, fuel and support equipment.

The team included specialists in explosive ordnance disposal, engineers, airfield management, communication, power production and more. Since the team had to be lean and efficient, each Airman wore two hats. Along with their primary job they drove forklifts and front-end loaders, unloaded aircraft, cleared houses and even marshaled helicopters.

After five days of work, the airfield was opened Sept. 13. A C-17 Globemaster III from Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, was the first aircraft in. The C-17 brought in a 53-person team of 15th Airlift Wing Airmen, Defense Department employees and contractors to replace the Andersen people.

The Hickam team's mission is to put a price tag on the damage and report the findings back to Gen. Paul V. Hester, Pacific Air Forces commander.

"One of our greatest assets in the (contingency response group) is we are a one-stop shop for all of your base opening needs," Major Poon said. "With 16 people we were able to open a base (previously) run by 188 people."

When the new team and their equipment were safely on the ground and acclimated, the Andersen team boarded the C-17 to go home to Guam.

"The team worked very hard to get the airfield ready for operations. We went at it for five days. I can't say enough about the men and women from the 36th CRG," the major said.

"We also got a lot of help from the Navy (military detachment) on the San Jose. They came over three days. They helped drill holes and cleaned up a lot of the runway and surrounding area. We would not have been able to open the base so fast without their help," he said.



TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hurricane; hurricaneioke; hurricaneseason2006; ioke; pacific; supertyphoon; supertyphoonioke; typhoon; typhoonioke; wakeisland
Associated Press - Typhoon damaged most buildings on Wake Island
1 posted on 09/14/2006 4:20:19 PM PDT by HAL9000
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To: zot

ping


2 posted on 09/14/2006 4:24:11 PM PDT by GreyFriar ( (3rd Armored Division - Spearhead))
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To: HAL9000

What, no press release by the USAF saying "Send us...more typhoons."?


3 posted on 09/14/2006 4:25:05 PM PDT by GreyFriar ( (3rd Armored Division - Spearhead))
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To: HAL9000

What, no press release by the USAF saying "Send us...more typhoons."?


4 posted on 09/14/2006 4:25:16 PM PDT by GreyFriar ( (3rd Armored Division - Spearhead))
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To: HAL9000
Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS took a real shellacking from Katrina too. But they worked diligently to get it back up and running. That's the value of teamwork and dedication to duty.
5 posted on 09/14/2006 4:27:25 PM PDT by stm (Katherine Harris for US Senate!)
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To: HAL9000
" all of your base opening needs"

So I guess all your base are belong to them?

6 posted on 09/14/2006 4:28:12 PM PDT by LukeL
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To: HAL9000; SandRat

Ping


7 posted on 09/14/2006 4:30:41 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: GreyFriar

What became of IOKE? Last I heard it was heading for Japan. Did it ever make it?? If so, it couldn't have been bad or we would have seen damage reports.


8 posted on 09/14/2006 4:30:57 PM PDT by CedarDave
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To: HAL9000

I just thought about this damage yesterday, and was going to look it up (but forgot then).

Thanks for posting this article.


9 posted on 09/14/2006 4:35:11 PM PDT by AFPhys ((.Praying for President Bush, our troops, their families, and all my American neighbors..))
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To: Fiddlstix

Media sobs because their EnviroRatZII Laments didn't come true on Global Warming


10 posted on 09/14/2006 4:42:30 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: CedarDave

Ioke veered north before getting to Japan, became an extratropical storm and eventually died. It lasted a long time and set some records.


11 posted on 09/14/2006 4:45:25 PM PDT by HAL9000 (Happy 10th Anniversary FreeRepublic.com - Est. Sept. 23, 1996 - Thanks Jim!)
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To: HAL9000

"Pat Poon"?

Might as well name him "Sue".

That being said, hat's off to these guys.


12 posted on 09/14/2006 4:48:17 PM PDT by Locomotive Breath (In the shuffling madness)
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To: stm
Keesler is still open? For some reason I thought it was closed down. I was stationed there in 1973. I didn't hear much about it during Katrina, so I thought it had been closed.
13 posted on 09/14/2006 4:52:24 PM PDT by usflagwaver
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To: HAL9000

God Bless the defenders of Wake Island(a lot of whom were MURDERED by The Japs)when they were finally forced to surrender on Dec.23,1941!!!!!!!!!!!!


14 posted on 09/14/2006 4:55:07 PM PDT by bandleader
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To: HAL9000
Landing on the island.
15 posted on 09/14/2006 5:28:13 PM PDT by Cecily (`)
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To: AFPhys

Here are some pics:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1696626/posts

Also, some videos.


16 posted on 09/14/2006 5:38:32 PM PDT by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
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To: GreyFriar

Good news! Thanks for the ping. As you know, I have been wondering about this, and I'm glad to see that Wake Island wasn't as badly damaged as previously expected.


17 posted on 09/14/2006 6:04:11 PM PDT by zot (GWB -- the most slandered man of this decade)
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To: HAL9000

Having visited Wake Island just nine months ago, I compared the photos I took then with the post-hurricane pics available online.

It's clear the island took quite a bit of damage, at least superficially. I know the USAF has tried for years to pull out of Wake for cost reasons and I hope this hurricane doesn't enable the Air Force to persuade DOD to shut it down. I expect the USAF leadership will be padding the estimated cost to bring Wake back up, hoping to scare DOD into giving up on the project.


18 posted on 09/14/2006 7:37:11 PM PDT by Poundstone
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To: CedarDave
It rained all over my hours for 3 days. The remains then went on to water Canada. Winds in the Aleutians hit 80 mph.
19 posted on 09/14/2006 8:04:38 PM PDT by ASOC (The phrase "What if" or "If only" are for children.)
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