VIEW FROM TOP>>Team Little Rock stands ready to assist

By Chief Master Sgt. Anthony Brinkley
314th Airlift Wing Command Chief

Over the past Labor Day holiday weekend, many people took time to enjoy the food, family and festivities. Yet, for many here at Team Little Rock this was a time to step up and assist our nation during a challenging period. I personally witnessed the efforts of our medics, aviators, command and control and support personnel to name a few during the evacuation of people from the path of Hurricane Gustav.

We had an opportunity to execute what we practice daily as our nation looked to the Air Force for relief and comfort. You see everything we do directly correlates to our national security and each of you should be able to connect yourself to our robust mission. This was and continues to be a total team effort to include guard, reserve and civilians.

We first had to situate and bed-down our TDY members here to support our tasks; that was done by our mission support group. We also had to coordinate and maintain our in-bound and out-bound air fleet; that was done by our maintenance group. We then launched life-sustaining missions, bringing in hundreds of citizens from around the country here for their safety; that was our operations group. Our medical group was there to receive patients as soon as the aircraft landed and provided critical care and treatment. Our director of staff ensured command and control as well as strategic communication was maintained during this period.

I personally witnessed many of our people working numerous hours to ensure that each evacuee had everything they needed during this stressful time. I cannot tell you how proud I am of how our people freely gave and continue to give when our country calls. Thanks again for being the professionals you are. Combat Airlift!