An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | March 11, 2010

Colorado Army Guard provides disaster relief to quake-ridden country

By Air Force Staff Sgt. Aaron Rognstad Colorado National Guard

CENTENNIAL, Colo.,  - The task of rapidly transporting small groups of people to remote places of the world is no problem at all for one particular Colorado Army National Guard unit.
The COARNG's Detachment 33 - a small unit with a big overall mission - was recently tasked with relief operations in Haiti for a three-week period where they did just that.

Attached to U.S. Southern Command and flying out of Homestead Air Reserve Base in Homestead, Fla., Det. 33 flew 52.5 hours and supported nine missions with their lone C-26E Metroliner airplane for Operation Unified Response, part of the U.S. military's efforts to support international disaster relief following the massive Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.

Thirty-six passengers were transported between Haiti and Florida with more than 9,000 pounds of cargo. The unit provided pilots and mechanics for the mission.

Beginning Jan. 27, the Det. 33 team began transport flights to Toussaint Louverture InternationalAirportin Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Passengers included Department of Defense personnel ranging from contractor engineers to military medics.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Timothy Ames, Det. 33 commander, said he and his Soldiers' piloting skills had to be sharp because the Port-Au-Prince airport had no operational radar equipment. They had to land using only what they could see and the help of controllers on radios.

"The flights into Port-au-Prince refreshed our non-radar position reporting skills and challenged our communication with heavily-accented English-speaking controllers," Ames said. "During hours of heavy air traffic, aircraft were stacked into a holding pattern on the arrival into the airport. There was only one runway with one entry and exit point."

Ames stressed that the one runway wasn't nearly enough for the amount of air traffic coming and going. He said there were no parallel taxiways, therefore pilots had to execute a 180-degree turn and exit the runway instead of just turning off it after they landed.

According to a recent Associated Press article by Martha Mendoza, (Haiti airport chaos was slowly tamed, Feb. 18), before the quake, the single, 10,000-foot runway managed 20 flights a day coming and going. "Afterward, traffic on the runway soon rivaled that of any at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on a busy day with planes landing and taking off every two minutes."

"The ramp was extremely busy as well, and there was limited space for parking and unloading," Ames said. "Sometimes they would want us to unload and depart as quickly as possible in order to make room for more incoming airplanes. Overall, it was a very challenging and rewarding mission. The training value for the younger pilots was immeasurable. The success of performing this mission can be attributed to the many previous missions performed by Det. 33 in similar environments."

"Part of the reason we all serve is to be able to help those who are less fortunate than us and that's definitely the case in Haiti," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Ian Van Abel, a 26-year-old Det. 33 pilot with a year-and-a-half experience on the C-26 airframe. "Any kind of help that we could provide was a great honor to be a part of."

Det. 33 is comprised of full-time and part-time pilots, augmentees, a full-time noncommissioned officer, civilian contract maintenance technicians and a part-time operations specialist. They have been to numerous foreign countries on several missions since the unit formed in 1994, including a six-month tour in the Horn of Africa in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2006. The unit is tentatively scheduled to return to northeast Africa next year.

"All OSAA (Operational Support Airlift Agency) airplanes operate under a PAT (Priority Air Transport) call sign. The mission is just that," said Col. Joel Best, COARNG 168th Regimental Training Institute commander and state aviation and safety officer. "We move blood, people and equipment, and due to the efficiency and cost of the airplane and their location in most states, enable the state and region to have ready access for time-critical travel."

As far as the rumors surrounding the future of the C-26 in the Army National Guard, Best said the Army's fixed-wing program is in a "state of flux."

"All of the TAGs (the adjutant generals) are on record for supporting the Future Utility Aircraft program," he said. "The C-12, C-26, and UC-35 all need a plan for the future."

The FUA program - a term coined by Army National Guard leadership - was created to fill the void left by the cancellation of the C-27J Spartan Joint Cargo Aircraft by the Army and ARNG in May 2009. The program was instituted to discuss the fielding of a different airframe for personnel and cargo transport missions. In terms of this affecting the C-26's mission, only time will tell.

"There are rumors of the C-26 program being in jeopardy, but the C-26E aircraft is the most economical aircraft in the Army fixed-wing inventory and can be a viable asset for years to come," Ames said.

Det. 33 is the Colorado Army National Guard's only fixed-wing aircraft unit, and one of about 10 in the entire Army National Guard. The C-26 is a pressurized, twin engine turboprop that accommodates a pilot and co-pilot, and transports passengers, cargo or a combination of both. It is the key ingredient in the unit's overarching mission: to rapidly transport key personnel to remote locations across the globe.

Det. 33's C-26E was recently upgraded with a new state-of-the-art cockpit and avionics system with GPS receivers and advanced electronic map displays.

"It's got a reputation as being a tough aircraft to fly," Ames said. "It's very hard to control in the roll axis and it's very sensitive in the pitch axis, so that combination makes it more challenging than other planes."

Det. 33's pilots average between 30 to 40 hours a month of flight time. Up until recent budget cuts, the unit averaged one OCONUS (outside continental U.S.) mission per month that would take members anywhere from Columbia to Alaska.

Anytime you go international - flying south of the border over many less advanced countries - it definitely adds a new element to flying in that you appreciate the modernization of the U.S., Van Abel said. "When you get outside of that nice control area, it takes a little more pilot skill and it's almost like going back in time."

Van Abel wanted to make sure the two full-time maintenance technicians, Brad Brewer and Frank Casey, who keep the C-26 flying, get their due recognition for their work.

"To maintain such a high ops tempo - we were flying a lot down there (Haiti) - those guys were probably the hardest workers on the team," Van Abel said. "They've been with the airplane for a long time and they know that airplane inside and out and they make sure it's flyable and ready for us to go."

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...