HomeNewsArticle Display

Joint Base Charleston delivers humanitarian aid to the Caribbean

St. Kitts Humanitarian Aid

Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, C-17 Globemaster III delivers humanitarian aid April 6, 2019, to St. Kitts and Nevis. This 315th Airlift Wing and 437th Airlift Wing joint mission successfully delivered 70,000 meals to St. Kitts and Nevis. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Della S. Creech)

St. Kitts Humanitarian Aid

U.S. Air Force SrA. Troy A. Severson, 317th Airlift Wing loadmaster at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, downloads humanitarian aid, April 6, 2019, at St. Kitts and Nevis. Severson accomplished mandatory checklist training as a loadmaster by assisting in the delivery of 70,000 humanitarian aid meals to St. Kitts and Nevis. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Della S. Creech)

St. Kitts Humanitarian Aid

Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, C-17 Globemaster III delivers humanitarian aid April 6, 2019, to St. Kitts and Nevis. This 315th Airlift Wing and 437th Airlift Wing joint mission successfully delivered 70,000 meals to St. Kitts and Nevis. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Della S. Creech)

St. Kitts Humanitarian Aid

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Hector "Javi" Lopez, 317th Airlift Wing loadmaster at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, loads humanitarian aid, April 6, 2019, at JBCHS. Lopez was essential in delivering 70,000 humanitarian aid meals to St. Kitts and Nevis. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Della S. Creech)

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts and Nevis --

A C-17 Globemaster III joint aircrew from the 315th and 437th Airlift Wing’s from Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, delivered about 10,000 pounds of humanitarian aid April 6, 2019, to St. Kitts-Nevis.


These condensed missions provide active duty Airman and reservist alike the opportunity to accomplish required training as well the opportunity to give back through the humanitarian mission.


“This is a win, win,” said Senior Master Sgt. Ken Hundemer, loadmaster with the 317th Airlift Squadron, Joint Base Charleston. Hundemer works as the Denton Program manager in Charleston in his civilian life as well.


The aid was coordinated through the Denton Program, enacted in 1985, that provides non-governmental agencies, international organizations and private voluntary donors the opportunity use military aircraft when there is space available to transport humanitarian aid.


According to the Denton application, it is estimated 13,000 St. Kittitian households are classified as poor with approximately 25 percent of the population generating less than $53 (U.S. Dollars) of weekly income.


“Seeing the smiles on the people’s face when they receive the meals make it all worthwhile,” said Chris Findlay, aid partner, CEO and President of Source Global purchasing and logistics of Mount Pleasant, S.C. who was on hand to help accept the delivery.


These food packets will provide 70,000 safe and nutrition enriched meals to 5,952 men, women and children of St. Kitts and Nevis, as stated by the community-based organizations of ATime4US Foundation, Incorporated, Mickey’s HOPE, and the Ministry of Social Services and Community Development.


In addition to providing aid to those in need, the mission provided the opportunity for a joint aircrew to obtain required mission training.
“This is an excellent opportunity to enhance the Air Force’s training mission, as well as meeting the humanitarian aspect,” said Hundemer.


Capt. Amanda Harman, C-17 pilot with the 14th Airlift Squadron, Joint Base Charleston received cross-ocean training, which is mandatory for pilots to accomplish at least twice a year. Cross-ocean training is normally conducted on a longer timeline of five to 10 days, but this mission allowed Harman the opportunity to accomplish it in two days. Missions like this improve efficiency of Airmen and increase the opportunities for unique training.


Harman said, “I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to train with the experienced pilots of the 315AW and I look forward to future missions.”
All in all, this joint mission impacted the lives of nearly 6,000 Caribbean citizens through Charleston Airmen answering the call for humanitarian aid and aid partners with a passion to serve.


 

USAF Comments Policy
If you wish to comment, use the text box below. AF reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.

This is a moderated forum. That means all comments will be reviewed before posting. In addition, we expect that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect. We will not post comments that contain abusive or vulgar language, spam, hate speech, personal attacks, violate EEO policy, are offensive to other or similar content. We will not post comments that are spam, are clearly "off topic", promote services or products, infringe copyright protected material, or contain any links that don't contribute to the discussion. Comments that make unsupported accusations will also not be posted. The AF and the AF alone will make a determination as to which comments will be posted. Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other non-governmental organizations or individuals that remain on the site are provided solely for the information of individuals using this page. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of the AF, DoD, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying AF endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

Any comments that report criminal activity including: suicidal behaviour or sexual assault will be reported to appropriate authorities including OSI. This forum is not:

  • This forum is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact OSI or your local police agency.
  • Do not submit unsolicited proposals, or other business ideas or inquiries to this forum. This site is not to be used for contracting or commercial business.
  • This forum may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

AF does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by individuals on this forum is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. AF may not be able to verify, does not warrant or guarantee, and assumes no liability for anything posted on this website by any other person. AF does not endorse, support or otherwise promote any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those websites that may be reached through links on our website.

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the public affairs through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted. We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read and posted as early as possible; in most cases, this means the next business day.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain "on-topic." This means that comments will be posted only as it relates to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. The views expressed on the site by non-federal commentators do not necessarily reflect the official views of the AF or the Federal Government.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personally identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number, DoD ID number, OSI Case number, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment. If you do voluntarily include personally identifiable information in your comment, such as your name, that comment may or may not be posted on the page. If your comment is posted, your name will not be redacted or removed. In no circumstances will comments be posted that contain Social Security numbers, DoD ID numbers, OSI case numbers, addresses, email address or phone numbers. The default for the posting of comments is "anonymous", but if you opt not to, any information, including your login name, may be displayed on our site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.

 

315th AW Facebook 315th AW on  Instagram 315th AW on Twitter 315th AW on YouTube Dvids Behind the Wing Podcast