The state of Florida appears to need a very small fraction of the level of military support generated for Hurricane Katrina, although the Pentagon geared up numerous forces for a quick response. So far, the Air National Guard has airlifted hospital patients from the Florida Keys and has provided communications teams, whose primary benefit to state and local responders has been to enable disparate communications equipment to communicate.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach told lawmakers Apr. 30 that the service’s biggest airlifter, the C-5 Galaxy, has a 37 percent mission capable rate—one of several challenges facing the mobility fleet.