MANSFIELD, Ohio –Airmen from the Ohio Air National Guard’s 200th RED HORSE Squadron and 179th Airlift Wing traveled to Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida following Hurricane Michael, to provide damage assessment and recovery efforts to the Continental United States NORAD Region - First Air Force (Air Forces Northern) Headquarters building October 17-22, 2018.
CONR-1AF (AFNORTH) and the 601st Air Operations Center, both located at Tyndall, execute NORAD’s air defense mission for the continental United States, and provides the air support for U.S. Northern Command.
The Airmen from the Ohio Air National Guard specialize in heavy construction and their skill-sets were utilized to help recover the headquarters building. These Airmen have been working to clean up debris, shore up the damaged parts of the building and prepare the building for repairs. Their efforts have helped rescue vital documents and equipment in areas damaged by water.
“We are glad that we can be down here to help our brothers and sisters during this time of need, this is what we train for,” said Capt. Ashley Klase, 200th RHS operations officer. “We’ve been able to help clear debris, moved 180,000 pounds of stone, have cleared out damaged drywall, roofing and flashing.”
Air National Guard members continuously train in order to be ready to respond to natural disasters and answer our nation’s call.
The 200th RED HORSE Squadron’s is a highly mobile, rapidly deployable, civil engineering response force that is self-sufficient to perform heavy damage repair required for recover of critical Air Force facilities and utility systems, and aircraft launch and recovery.