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Hawkeyes, Greyhounds Among First to Respond to Katrina

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS050922-14
Release Date: 9/22/2005 9:29:00 PM

By Drema Ballengee-Grunst, PMA-231 Communications Support and Lt. Ryan Hyslop, Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40 Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Less than 48 hours after Hurricane Katrina’s devastation to the Gulf Coast Aug. 29, the U.S. Navy’s E-2C Hawkeye and C-2A Greyhound aircraft were airborne to aid victims.

The Navy’s Atlantic Wing provided aircraft and crews based out of Norfolk, Va., and Atlanta for around-the-clock lifesaving efforts. The Hawkeye and Greyhound teams coordinated the rescues of hundreds of people each day and delivered thousands of pounds of food and supplies to the stranded, the sick and hungry.

“Nothing compares to the scale we see in New Orleans, and our crews know with these missions that sometimes you just make things happen, and work to get out as many people as you can,“ said Cmdr. Steve Cassetta, executive officer of Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 77, based in Atlanta. “It breaks your heart to have to do these kinds of mission.”

Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40, the "Rawhides," flew C-2s from Norfolk to Pensacola, Fla., to provide critical services to victims. The Rawhides flew 44 sorties over a span of three days into the heart of the devastation. Each of their eight aircraft completed an average of 5.5 sorties daily. Despite extreme conditions, Rawhide pilots and air crew have logged a total of 89.5 flight hours, and carried 244 passengers and more than 44,000 pounds of cargo in and out of the affected areas in the ongoing mission.

VRC-40 simultaneously supported the global war on terrorism by deploying a detachment aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Labor Day weekend.

The E-2C Hawkeye is providing a key command-and-control role by using its unparalleled radar and communications suite to monitor airspace, locate stranded victims, direct rescues, locate standing buildings, identify space for safe landings and provide direction for aircraft activity in the area.

“E-2 crew members are highly skilled and possess the ability to think quickly and clearly in a developing situation and a flurry of activity,” said Cassetta. “When we need people to react in complete chaos, the Navy’s E-2 crews are incredibly skilled to assist in stabilizing the situation and making things run smoother because of our unique ability to collaborate with so many other aircraft.”

E-2 missions on the ravaged Gulf Coast began with monitoring restricted airspace alongside U.S. Customs P-3s, checking aircraft in and out of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, as well as helping coordinate helicopter search-and-rescue operations in New Orleans. Facing predictable communications difficulties in the aftermath, the crews adopted a whatever-it-takes attitude.

“You just go in and do whatever you can to help with the rescue,” said Cassetta.

E-2s participated in the evacuation of victims from the New Orleans Convention Center, the Superdome, highway overpasses and roofs of homes. Hawkeye crews also coordinated food drops at a city hall and a grocery store where hungry and dehydrated citizens had congregated. In the course of a two-hour period Sept. 4, E-2 crews coordinated the rescue of more than 400 people, two major food drops and four medical evacuations.