Kentucky Air Guard Supports Ebola Relief Mission

Kentucky Air National Guard News Release

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 2, 2014 – More than 60 airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard are scheduled to begin departing today for Senegal to establish a cargo-processing hub in support of Operation United Assistance, the international effort to battle Ebola in West Africa.

Kentucky Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Paul Jones, right, a loadmaster assigned to the 123rd Airlift Wing, directs the movement of cargo from a C-130 Hercules in Latvia Sept. 6, 2014, during the combined training exercise Saber Junction. Kentucky Air National Guard photo by 2nd Lt. James W. Killen   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

The airmen will bring all the equipment necessary to establish an aerial port of debarkation, or APOD, at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport.

The APOD is designed to accept large quantities of cargo arriving on C-17 Globemaster III and C-5 Galaxy aircraft, process the material for staging, and then load it onto smaller aircraft for distribution into affected areas.

The Kentucky airmen, all assigned to the Louisville-based 123rd Contingency Response Group, will remain in place as long as the mission dictates.

An advance team of eight Kentucky Air Guardsmen and one active-duty airman arrived in Senegal Sept. 28 to assess the airfield and operational capabilities.

“The eyes of the world are on West Africa right now and Kentuckians are on the way to help,” said Air National Guard Maj. Gen. Edward W. Tonini, adjutant general for Kentucky. “There is no better organization to respond to this kind of mission than the Kentucky Air National Guard. The men and women of the 123rd Contingency Response Group are trained and experienced professionals, and I am confident they will make an important difference during this crisis.”

The 123rd Contingency Response Group, part of the 123rd Airlift Wing, is the only unit of its kind in the Air National Guard. Conceived as an “airbase in a box,” the group acts as an early responder in the event of contingency operations worldwide. Several members of the team were involved in previous humanitarian missions, to include the Haiti earthquake aid in 2010.

Its personnel have the training and equipment to deploy to remote sites, rapidly open a runway and establish airfield operations so cargo or troops can begin to flow into affected areas. Unit members represent a broad spectrum of specialties, including airfield security, ramp and cargo operations, aircraft maintenance, and command and control.