Crime & Safety
Moffett Air Base Rescue Units Deployed To Florida
BREAKING: The Santa Clara County-based 129th Rescue Wing is in northwestern Florida for Hurricane Irma search-and-rescue operations.
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Rescue units from Moffett Air National Guard Base in Santa Clara County are in northwestern Florida helping with preparations for Hurricane Irma in that area, a spokesman said Sunday morning. The 129th Rescue Wing staged personnel, equipment and aircraft at Hurlburt Air Field in Florida's Okaloosa County last night before the storm made landfall in Florida, according to Capt. Roderick Bersamina.
The hurricane has since made landfall but has yet not reached that part of the state.
"This gives us an immediate capability once the storm passes to begin ground and water search and rescue operations," said Major Jay Cossello, commander of an Alaska National Guard personnel recovery unit that
is working with the 129th Rescue Wing, in a statement. "We will be geographically closer as soon as the storm passes and if we try to drive in after the weather clears the roads, it will be jammed with everyone trying to return to their homes," Cossello said.
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The 129th Rescue Wing is based at Moffett Air National Guard Base, an airport in unincorporated Santa Clara between Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Efforts like the one in Florida are part of the rescue wing's mission.
The action is a joint effort between numerous other search and rescue units, including the Alaska National Guard, active duty Air Force and other Department of Defense units working with the 129th Rescue Wing in
Florida, Bersamina said.
Find out what's happening in Mountain Viewfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
By Bay City News Service
Photo: U.S. Air Force Guardian Angel pararescuemen from the 212th Rescue Squadron, Alaska Air National Guard, unload their equipment from an MC130P Combat Shadow aircraft assigned with the 129th Rescue Wing, California Air National Guard at Miami Opa Locka Executive Airport, Florida as Hurricane Irma approaches, September 9, 2017. The Guardian Angel team are prepositioning themselves and staging equipment 20 miles outside of Miami in a safety bunker rated for a Category 5 hurricane in order to have immediate capability once the storm passes to begin personnel recovery operations. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Joseph Prouse/129th Rescue Wing)
