McChord troops aid Lebanon evacuation

McCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. – More than 30 pilots and loadmasters from McChord Air Force Base are heading to the Middle East to help with the evacuation of U.S. citizens fleeing Lebanon.

Tech. Sgt. Carrie Bernard, a spokeswoman with McChord’s 62nd Airlift Wing, said Saturday that crews are expected to fly evacuees from the island of Cyprus to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.

McChord airmen have been shuttling food, water and other essentials to the island of Cyprus, providing aid to Americans who escaped the hostilities.

A number of C-17 Globemaster III aircraft are set to fly trans-Atlantic missions over the next week and a half to extract Americans from the region, the 62nd Airlift Wing said Saturday in a news release about the mission.

McChord’s 10th Airlift Squadron, currently on a four-month deployment in the Middle East, is also taking part in the evacuation effort.

The 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron’s tacticians acquired airfield imagery and performed threat assessments for the area. Both were deemed critical to the mission because of the bomb damage Lebanon’s primary airports have suffered since fighting with Israel broke out, squadron officials said.

Late this week, a crew from McChord’s 8th Airlift Squadron delivered humanitarian supplies from Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany to the island of Cyprus.

The C-17 crew left for Cyprus late Friday, carrying food, water, blankets, first aid kits and other essential equipment and personnel to Royal Air Force Base Akrotiri on Cyprus.