Minnesota Guard deployed for hurricane relief

Forty-one airmen from the Minnesota Air National Guard were sent this past weekend to support response efforts for Hurricane Irma. Six soldiers from the Minnesota Army National Guard left Monday to help.

The airmen, from the 133rd Airlift Wing based in St. Paul, include 14 members of the Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, who are trained in emergency medical evacuations. They are on standby at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois where they will support potential missions in the Caribbean or southern United States, the Guard said.

The remaining personnel arrived Monday at St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. The airmen can support airports as they re-establish operations, secure aircraft and load and unload equipment, the Guard said.

Six soldiers from the 34th Combat Aviation Brigade are traveling from St. Cloud with one CH-47 Chinook helicopter to ferry gear and personnel for response and recovery efforts from Hurricane Irma.

After spending the night in Mississippi, the soldiers will go on to Jacksonville, Fla., on Tuesday, the Guard said. The unit recently sent two aircraft to Texas for five days in response to Hurricane Harvey, where they flew six missions, moving 29,000 pounds of cargo.

The Guard also prepared a shipment of medical supplies from the warehouse at Camp Ripley, which was to be taken to Florida by the Missouri National Guard.

Mark Brunswick