Air Guard provides storm relief to Kansans

  • Published
  • By Maj. DeAnn Barr
  • 184th Wing Public Affairs
Twenty four troops from the Kansas Air National Guard, stationed at McConnell, deployed with only hours notice on New Year's Eve to assist residents of Western Kansas recover from the massive power outages that covered the region following an ice and snow storm.

Lt. Col. Curtis Coln, commander of the 134th Air Control Squadron, led the group of volunteers as they convoyed across the state at dusk, as requested by the Governor earlier that day. The Airmen were fulfilling their state Military Assistance to Civil Authorities mission, in providing relief within Kansas borders. An estimated 20,000 people were without power Dec. 31.

"Lives were saved by our members' quick response this New Year's Eve," said 184th Wing Commander, Col. Randy Roebuck. "The Kansas Air National Guard's 134th ACS immediately went into action and traversed icy roads at night to ensure shelters in Western Kansas had the electricity they needed. Providing that kind of life saving service to our state, as well as our nation, is what being a Guardsman is all about."

As the 134th convoy of five-ton multi-purpose trucks traveled further into Western Kansas on New Year's Eve, the road conditions deteriorated.

"From Wichita to Wakeeney the roads were not bad. After that everything was a solid sheet of ice," said Colonel Coln. "Interstate 70 was terrible and side roads were even worse. There were several overturned cars off the side of the road."

In fact, one group of the convoy witnessed a sport utility vehicle overturn in front of them, and stopped to render assistance until emergency relief arrived nearly an hour later.

"As we came upon the accident at midnight, three young adults from Indiana were crawling out of their overturned vehicle. None of the passengers were traveling with coats or emergency gear," said Master Sgt. Tom Gattis. "We called the authorities and immediately provided first aid for cuts and directed traffic for about an hour before emergency services arrived. We also dressed them in our arctic gear and sheltered them in our trucks until help arrived. We joked that this would be a New Year's Eve we would never forget."

The mission was to provide seven generators, the unit's entire inventory, and to deliver 200 cots from the Red Cross in Wichita to various shelters in Western Kansas. When the convoy arrived in the wee hours of New Year's Day, they went straight to work setting up generators in the communities that needed power.

"The first generator was on line at 4:30 a.m. on New Year's Day, and we were finished hooking all of them up by 11 a.m.," said Colonel Coln. "The only delay was getting electricians to hook the generators to the water and sewer pumps. The first two days most of my people only had about two hours of sleep."

Derby resident Chief Master Sgt. "Butch" Connor received his call to deploy while picking up party trays at a grocery store for a gathering planned later that day with his family.
Less than an hour later he was on base with his bags packed, assembling the volunteers. As chief of the 134th Air Control Squadron, he along with Colonel Coln formulated the deployment plan.

"It was an excellent opportunity for the 134th to show its spirit of volunteerism," said Chief Connor. "All of us that went on the trip were volunteers. I've been doing this for a long time, but it was reassuring to see the spirit of volunteerism in the younger generation. Knowing we would have a positive impact on those folks out there was a real motivator as well."

Half of the troops returned to base after a few days of setting up equipment, and the other half will remain for a while to maintain and move the generators from site to site.

"With these generators, we have been providing power to water pump stations, so the town could have running water for household use again, and water pressure for fire protection," the chief said.

Personnel and equipment are slated to remain in place until the threat of a second winter storm has passed through the region.