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VR-57 Delivers Critical Supplies for Haiti

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS100209-02
Release Date: 2/9/2010 8:48:00 AM

By Lt. Kendra Kaufman, Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 57 Public Affairs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- The "Conquistadors" of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 57 (VR-57) deployed 14 San Diego-based Sailors and a C-40A "Clipper" cargo/passenger airliner to Haiti Jan. 23 to support Operation Unified Response.

Operation Unified Response is the joint U.S. military operation providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to Haiti in wake of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the country Jan. 12.

"I'm extremely proud of the men and women of VR-57, who stepped up at a moment's notice to make this mission happen," said VR-57 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Bill Crump. "In less than 24 hours they took one of our aircraft in a down status, repaired it, [reconfigured] it, completed a post-maintenance check flight and flew it across the country to have it on station in support of Operation Unified Response. These missions proved the expeditionary capabilities of the C-40A [aircraft] and its value not only to combatant commanders, but to humanitarian and disaster relief efforts worldwide."

The detachment arrived at Naval Air Station Jacksonville Jan. 23 and began flying non-stop missions, delivering the lifesaving cargo to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which is the logistics hub for supplies and personnel en route to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

The C-40A is the military equivalent of a Boeing 737. The aircraft is unique because it can be configured in three ways: to carry 121 passengers, to carry 40,000 pounds of cargo or a combination of 68 passengers and 15,000 pounds of palletized cargo.

For the Operation Unified Response mission, VR-57 rigged the C-40A in the all-cargo configuration and transported hundreds of pallets of bottled water, clothing, medical supplies, meals ready to eat (MREs) and humanitarian daily rations (HDRs). The long range, high speed and large payload of the C-40A made it ideal for this mission. The C-40A aircrews, working with other aircraft platforms from the Fleet Logistics Support Wing, were able to empty a full warehouse in Jacksonville in just three days.

Once the aircrews unloaded the supplies in Guantanamo Bay, the pallets were disassembled and transported to Haiti by C-2A aircraft from Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40 and VRC-30, and by MH-53E helicopters from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 14 and HM-15.

In total, VR-57 has transported over 200,000 pounds of critical lifesaving cargo in support of Haitian disaster relief.

"The United States is one of the few countries always there to lend a hand," said Aircrewman Mechanical 1st Class David McDermott, one of VR-57's selected Reserve crew chiefs who volunteered for this mission. "Knowing that people are starving and thirsty made me feel we were doing something good for the people of Haiti."