CAROLINA, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico Air National Guard's 156th Mission Support Group Airmen are providing the gateway to support efforts for units that traveled to Puerto Rico after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake caused damage in five southwest municipalities on the island.
Specialized teams of Airmen from the Ohio and New Mexico Air National Guard's Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadrons, or RED HORSE, recently landed in Puerto Rico to deliver Disaster Relief Bed-down Sets. This package of equipment is a self-contained deployable kit that includes sleeping quarters, latrines, showers, laundry, tents, water purification kits and other essential support items for deployed and activated service members.
Each RED HORSE unit provided one DRBS package that can support 150 people. The Disaster Relief Bed-down Sets were unloaded at Muñiz Air National Guard Base in Carolina, Puerto Rico. PRNG Soldiers transported the equipment by convoy to Guayanilla and Guánica.
To efficiently and effectively receive the support from outside units, the 156th Mission Support Group hosted the joint reception, staging, onward movement and integration (JRSOI) process at Muñiz Air National Guard Base.
"The JRSOI is a process which transitions personnel, equipment and materials into forces capable of meeting the commander's operational requirements," said Lt. Col. Alexander Santiago, the 156th Force Support Squadron commander.
PRANG personnel briefed Ohio and New Mexico Air National Guard Airmen on the situations in the impacted areas, defined their roles and ensured they were adequately equipped.
"To execute the mission under the constraints which currently exist on the island, our Airmen had to be innovative in their approach to meeting the objectives of a JRSOI," said Santiago.
Capt. Jose Martinez, the wing's installation deployment officer and acting JRSOI officer in charge, and Capt. Emire Rodriguez, the military director of personnel, "led the team of Airmen at Muniz in identifying and establishing a personnel and cargo/equipment processing area for our arriving service members," Santiago said.
The JRSOI was accomplished with the hard work of Airmen in the 156th Force Support Squadron, 156th Logistics Readiness Squadron, 156th Civil Engineer Squadron, 156th Communications Flight and the Puerto Rico State Air Guard. Briefings provided by the PRANG's legal office, medical group and intel office established a healthy and safe start for the Airmen entering the municipalities.
The PRNG is working around the clock to support Joint Task Force Puerto Rico to provide a safe place for people displaced by the Jan. 7 earthquake at base camps in Guánica, Guayanilla, Peñuelas, Ponce and Yauco.