Westover C-5s evacuate, FEMA Trucks stage at Westover

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. James Bishop
  • 439th AW Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --   - Two homeward-bound C-5 aircraft were diverted Aug. 25, and the remaining 16 C-5s on base are scheduled to evacuate Aug. 26 - 27 to MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, in preparation for Hurricane Irene.
Westover has 16 C-5 Bs assigned, another 2 C-5 As were temporarily on base.

In addition, about 105 trailers loaded with bottled water, generators, tarps, food, and other emergency supplies are due to arrive here Aug. 26 and 27 as the Federal Emergency Management Agency prepares for the hurricane, which is due to hit New England Sunday, Aug. 28.

Westover serves as a FEMA Incident Support Base. In September, 2010, in preparation for Hurricane Earl, the base was used for the first time as a staging point for FEMA Region I, which encompasses all of New England, said Bob Perreault, Chief of Emergency Management at Westover. The exercise proved to be a valuable dry run for this year's tempest.

"Taxpayers have a lot of money invested in these C-5s, and we are taking precautions to protect the aircraft," said Col. Steven Vautrain, 439th Airlift Wing Commander. "We're supporting FEMA and are preparing to support any search and rescue operations."

When the evacuated and diverted aircraft return after the hurricane, they can be used to transport relief supplies, said Col. Vautrain.