Getting Out of Hanna’s Way

The Air Force has begun moving aircraft from bases along the southeastern US coast that may be in the path of Tropical Storm Hanna. For example, approximately 80 F-15Es of the 4th Fighter Wing were expected to depart Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., for Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, the service said in a release. They would join 14 F-15s already expected there from the Florida Air National Guard’s 125th FW in Jacksonville, Fla. Further, several C-17s from the 437th Airlift Wing at Charleston AFB, S.C, were also tentatively preparing to evacuate to Wright-Patterson Sept. 4, the Air Force said. And the Indianapolis Star reported yesterday that six KC-135Rs from Air Force Reserve Command’s 916th Air Refueling Wing at Seymour-Johnson were expected to bunk at Grissom ARB, Ind. Forecasters predicted Hanna would hit the Bahamas yesterday and make US landfall over the weekend. Already the Air Force has shifted combat rescue helicopters and tankers from Patrick AFB, Fla., to Montgomery, Ala.