TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — In this holiday time, Davis-Monthan airmen can reflect on a challenging year, including how they met the challenge of helping their fellow citizens hurt by Hurricane Helene’s impact on North Carolina.
If you are in trouble somewhere in the world, an aircraft like the HC-130J would be something you’d be very happy to see. Some of them are based at Davis Monthan–and are part of rescue units that went to the disaster zone affected by Hurricane Helene.
The people around Asheville, North Carolina are a long way from the coast but Hurricane Helene hit them hard anyway, with intense rains that picked up more punch as the water rushed down the mountain slopes.
“Somebody needs you, and we just, we drop what we doing, we get our affairs in order, and then we're out the door.”
Air Force Tech Sergeant Gregory Jackson has done rescue work around the world, but this time his mission was closer to home. He was part of a team of about a hundred Davis-Monthan airmen from several DM rescue units deployed to the North Carolina damage zone.
“So if somebody, you know, needed food or water, anything like that, or if they needed a generator, anything like that, we were able to provide it.”
He was on board anHC-130J--a large, four engine prop plane able to search for hours at a time, deliver much needed supplies, re-fuel helicopters in mid-air to help the helicopters get into tight spots and put rescue crews in close contact with people on the ground.
When emergency workers could not reach four injured people, crews from DM rescued the four and flew them to a hospital.
Jackson has served in the Air Force for 13 years. He’s been happy to work rescue all of that time.
“I think we have the best job in the military. It's very fulfilling. When somebody has the worst day of their life, they call us for help, and we drop what we're doing and we go get to it. So 365 days a year we're available, 366 on the Leap Year. 24/7, no matter if it's a holiday or not.“
In battle zones, that work can even find rescuers under fire as they fly into danger to pick up troops who are trapped, or pilots who have been shot down. But they take on the danger to be true to their code: “That others may live.”
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
