From the Wed, Oct 13th Stars & Stripes, Mid East Edition;
Quote:
American military aircraft based in Afghanistan have provided more than 100,000 pounds of relief supplies in two days of missions to earthquake-ravaged Pakistan, U.S. military officials said Tuesday.
Eight Army helicopter crews deployed from Germany and at least two Air Force C-17 transport planes have been ferrying food, water, medicine and blankets from Bagram Air Base to a Pakistani military airfield since Monday.
Five CH-47 Chinooks from the Giebelstadt-based 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment and three UH-60 Black Hawks from Illesheim’s 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment are flying the missions, officials have said.
In total, the United States expects to send at least 25 to 30 helicopters to Pakistan to assist with earthquake relief efforts, said Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita.
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Quote:
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Other C-17s with more support and equipment were scheduled to arrive Tuesday. DiRita said some of the additional helicopters would come from Afghanistan and Bahrain, but military officials said the earthquake recovery efforts would have no impact on current combat operations.
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Well, thank heavens for that.
