Airmen from the 36th Contingency Response Group, based at Andersen AFB, Guam, recently deployed to Saipan to provide humanitarian aid in the aftermath of Typhoon Soudelor, according to an An?dersen news release. Six personnel from the CRG, along with two all-terrain forklifts and a 60K aircraft loader have worked to unload water, food, generators, and electrical supplies to help Saipan’s recovery. Some of the equipment the airmen took with them allows unloading for larger aircraft or movement of larger cargo pallets than wouldn’t be possible otherwise, said MSgt. Corey Long, the evaluator loadmaster for the 36th Mobility Response Squadron. “The work we are doing here is essential to the recovery operations,” he said. The typhoon destroyed hundreds of homes on Saipan and knocked out the island’s power and water lines. In July, the 36th Contingency Response Group worked with members of the 353rd Special Operations Group to open the airfield at Wake Island after Typhoon Halola. The group also assisted with relief efforts in Nepal after the May earthquake.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
