Seasoned by years of hurricane response, the Mississippi Air National Guard was on the move within the first 24 hours after the storm hit land. A C-17 from the 172nd Airlift Wing at Jackson, Miss., flew 90,000 pounds of food into the airfield at Gulfport, Miss. The supplies were gone within a day, and six New York ANG C-5s from the 105th AW, Stewart ANGB, N.Y., flew in 540,000 pounds more.
It is critical that the Air Force move forward on the replacement for its E-4B “Doomsday” aircraft to keep the capability “viable” into the next decade and beyond, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told lawmakers May 8.