CONTACT: Lt. Col. Deanna Miller, 716-236-3142 or (cell)716-425-0503

FOR RELEASE: Friday, Feb 12, 2010

NIAGARA FALLS, NY (02/12/2010)(readMedia)-- In a late night mission, Airmen of the New York Air National Guard's 107 th Airlift wing delivered 18,270 bottles of water to Haiti on Monday, Feb. 8. The 107th Airmen were settling in for the night shen the call came in, and within minutes all crew members were on the shuttle bus headed for the flight line. The mission, moving 19,000 pounds of water , would take them from their staging area at MacDill, Air Force Base, Fla., to Homestead Air Reserve Station, Fla., to receive their load of cargo and then into Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The C-130 crew reconfigured the airframe from their previous mission, evacuating injured Haitians, back into a cargo hauler. Working together loadmasters, crew chiefs and flight engineers removed litter supports, seats and installed cargo rollers. Within a couple hours the crew had converted the cargo area, checked gauges, mechanics and deemed the craft ready for flight. Upon arrival at Homestead, aerial port members on site transported and loaded the water, already on pallets, bound and secured for the 3 hour flight onto Niagara's aircraft. Prior to take-off load masters Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Obrochta, from Orchard Park, NY and Senior Airman Laura Kruse, from West Valley, NY, secured the pallets in place ensuring a safe controllable load. "Everything needs to be secured for flight," said Obrochta. "If it's not bolted down, it gets strap it down," he added. The 107th AW has supported Operation Unified Response with aircrew and aircraft since just four days after the earthquake hit leaving the already underprivileged nation in shambles and chaos. Members of New York's Air National Guard's 107th Airlift wing have been working side-by-side with their counter parts, the Air Force Reserves, 914th Airlift Wing. The two wings co-located at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, Niagara Falls, N.Y. have been working together sharing , flying and maintaining the same airframe for more than a year and a half now. Looking around at Port-au-Prince International Airport, it is easy to see the large scale of this humanitarian operation. Aircraft of all shapes and sizes, from many countries around the world can be found on the tarmac at any given time. Both military and civilian agencies from around the globe are working side-by-side for one common goal, helping Haiti recover. Story and Photos by Staff Sgt. Peter Dean, 107th Airlift Wing 100208-F-0648D-004 MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.--Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Obrochta 107th Airlift Wing C-130 load master, ensures that a pallet of water bottles destined for delivery to Haiti are secure during a relief mission executed on Monday, Feb. 8.The New York Air National Guard crew delivered 18,270 water bottles to Haiti during this mission."Everything needs to be secured for flight,"said Obrochta. "If it is not bolted down, it gets straped it down,"he added.The 107th has provided crews along with aircraft for the transportation of supplies into and evacuees out of Haiti since four days after the earthquake hit. 100208-F-0648D-003 MAcDill Air Force Base, Fla.--Senior Airman Laura Kruse installs rollers in preparation for the pallets of water that are to be loaded. The Airman along with other crew members prepare the C-130 to pick up a load of bottled water destine for Haiti. The 107th has provided crews along with aircraft for the transportation of supplies into and evacuees out of Haiti since four days after the earthquake hit.