Icemen return home from Operation Tomodachi

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Yash Rojas
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  More than two months after an 8.9 earthquake off the coast of Japan, Icemen are slowly returning to Eielson Air Force Base bringing Eielson's portion of the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts also known as Operation TOMODACHI to a close.

For most, the one-month deployment provided an opportunity to help support Operation TOMODACHI. Icemen overseas helped reinforce available humanitarian assistance as part of a broader U.S. effort to reduce human suffering. The U.S. Air Force offers America an air bridge--a strategic asset providing operational reach--making deployment and employment of joint combat power for humanitarian relief possible.

According to Senior Airman Kathleen Clyde, 354th Logistics Readiness Squadron traffic management journeyman, Airmen helped Marines by overseeing the travel manifest which lists contents of an aircraft. Airman Clyde helped move members of sister services to northern bases in Japan, near the city of Sendai.

354th LRS Airmen, like Airman Clyde who worked passenger travel in support of Operation TOMODACHI, gathered information, filling out numerous manifests for disaster relief personnel to ensure they reached destinations throughout the island. Travel was made possible via military aircraft including the large C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III.

In addition to overseeing passenger travel, an entirely new job prior to deploying to Japan, Airman Clyde also had an opportunity to work with Japanese nationals. Together, they helped evacuate families by military or commercial means of transportation.

"I've never worked passenger travel before this deployment," said Airman Clyde. "I may have trained for it at my first base, but the experience was very new to me. I learned a lot, especially regarding the interaction with customers-people who were eager to evacuate."

Airmen returned home with invaluable on-the-job training, reinforcing skills as individuals and further enhancing Air Force capabilities. A first-hand account of families affected by Japan's large earthquake and working with available resources has made an impact in the lives of our Airmen.

"My best experience was serving the families and doing whatever I could to assist them with their departure," said Tech. Sergeant Eric Bruntz, 354th Force Support Squadron airman and family support flight, readiness Non Commissioned Officer. "I was also very impressed with all the Red Cross volunteers who were primarily military dependents from Yokota Air Base. They were always willing to lend a helping hand."

For some, the experience served as an eye-opening glimpse into another culture while providing them with a small preview of what can be done when a community comes together and helps one another.

"I feel I made a difference for the American families that were partially under the care of the Japanese Government and living alongside Japanese citizens," said Sergeant Bruntz.

Operation TOMODACHI serves as an example to our coalition partners and as a testament to how important global outreach can be to mission success. Icemen will continue to return from overseas as disaster relief efforts slow down.