FORT SMITH, Ark., - The Arkansas Air National Guard's 188th Fighter Wing answered the call to support the effort in Haiti with the deployment of the unit's Disaster Relief Beddown Set (DRBS) early this morning.
The DRBS supports up to 150 personnel with billets, shower and latrine facilities, kitchen and self-help laundry machines, as well as providing water purification capabilities. The system was last used in January 2009, when it was deployed to Marshall, Ark., following the devastating ice storm that affected the northern third of the state.
With this most recent deployment, the DRBS will house relief personnel from Expeditionary Medical Support units, who will provide medical care to earthquake victims in Haiti.
Although no Arkansas Guardsmen were tasked to deploy with the equipment, unit personnel came together late Jan. 24 to load out the system for movement via one C-130 and two C-17 aircraft.
This is the second call for Arkansas Guard support as part of the relief effort to support the island nation that was devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent aftershocks over the past two weeks.
On Jan. 22, the Arkansas Air National Guard's 123rd Intelligence Squadron deployed seven Airmen to the region in order to provide imagery analysis assets to support aerial reconnaissance over the affected area.