Two C-130Js and 25 airmen will return to Little Rock Air Force Base on Thursday, 17 days after they left on a relief mission to flood-ravaged Peru, according to Cheri Dragos-Pritchard, chief of media operations for the 19th Airlift Wing.
Two days after Peru requested help, the planes and airmen were on the ground, loading food and relief supplies and transporting it to areas cutoff from help, she said.
“The goal is to assist the Peruvians in recovering from this natural disaster as well as re-establish normalcy to their lives and ease any suffering caused by this natural act,” according to Dragos-Pritchard.
“Our teams here at Little Rock Air Force Base stand ready and able to take on and transport people and/or relief supplies whenever called upon,” she said.
The planes and airmen are from the air base’s 41st and 61st Airlift Squadrons.
As well as combat support in Afghanistan and Iraq, Dragos-Pritchett said the base has a long history of supporting and executing humanitarian missions in the U.S. and abroad, including Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita and in Haiti, both earthquake and hurricane relief.
