Aircrews from Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s 62nd Airlift Wing delivered medical personnel and equipment to Chile on Monday.
Two C-17 Globemaster III cargo jets picked up more than 80 airmen from 13 different bases at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and transported them to the South American country reeling from an 8.8-magnitude earthquake on Feb. 27.
The Air Force often calls upon Lewis-McChord aircrews to deliver emergency aid in disaster zones. In the past year, aircrews have flown to Haiti, American Samoa and Indonesia.
In Chile, medical crews will operate in the southern city of Angol and provide health services and dental care. They also will prepare injured people for aeromedical evacuation.
“McChord crews went into alert status immediately after the earthquake, and we stand ready to assist on an as-needed basis,” Lt. Col. James Ray of Lewis-McChord’s 62nd Operations Group said in a press release.
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