Gustav Called Tonight

[Hellgate]

I figured you would be in the mix of Ike. So damaging private property, sounds like you broke sprinkler lines underneath the field.

Don't feel too bad, You have describe this as a big CF, can you imagine what it was like for Katrina? FEMA is still trying to figure that one out.

So you have some evacuees that don't speak a lick of English? Are they illegals?

Hey Kenny - Oh I was in the heart of Katrina, I had an Infantry Company in the Garden District area. We worked with DEA to search for drug cashes.

That was a mess indead, Rita was worse in a lot of ways, very uncoordinated.

At our shelter we peaked at about 250 evacuees and today we are at about 130 or so. Many people headed home as power comes back up. They will most likely begin bussing people back early next week. It all depends on the amount of power in the various towns.

On a side note my Soldiers were notified yesterday to report next Thursday in Austin for screening (SRP) to deploy to Iraq in 30 days. I'll tell you what, "What?", this has been perhaps the craziest month of my life. Now we have to figure out how to get the people and equipment back in time for the screening and keep the mission going here in Bryan. As they say, I'll sleep when I'm dead. Just when I think we are in a steady battle-rhythm the other shoe drops. I swear there must be a Payless or something near by because we've got a very good collection of "other shoes"...

 

[Hellgate]

My unit has a rescue joint task force down there with blackhawks and hercules aircraft and they didn't call me...again. I'm kinda pissed. I watched the whole Katrina thing go down and wished I could help. I knew we had the people and the equipment to make a difference but they never called me. Now we're down there again plucking people off rooftops with our helicopters and and they didn't call me...again. But on the bright side the people I work with made the front page of the Air Force web site because they're out there flying their helicopters throughout Galveston and helping people.

These are the kinds of missions that make the people in the guard happy to do their job for once - the missions where you get to help your fellow Americans and see the direct results of your training and efforts.

Thanks for being down there, even if things are a little haywire. I wish I were there with you.

Very cool. I heard that the air SAR mission was the largest in the history of Texas.

 

[Hellgate]

End of Mission - Yesterday I sent 13 Soldiers and 6 vehicles back to A town. They are the folks who won the lucky prize of going to the sandbox.

Tonight we stop our operations at midnight and head out at 1000 tomorrow. The shelters is down to about 75 to 85 people from a high of 240. 12 went to hotels today and a bus is taking 60 back to Buaemont tomorrow.

By the time we get back turn clean and turn everything in it will have been a month. Went by pretty fast really.

Another one in the can.