Japan Air Self-Defense Force personnel and contracted workers help move a pallet of donated blankets off of a U.S. Navy C-130 at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The Navy air crew picked up the donations at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, and brought them to Misawa as part of humanitarian relief efforts in earthquake- and tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan. (T.D. Flack/Stars and Stripes)
Japan Air Self-Defense Force personnel and contracted workers help move a pallet of donated blankets off of a U.S. Navy C-130 at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The Navy air crew picked up the donations at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, and brought them to Misawa as part of humanitarian relief efforts in earthquake- and tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan. (T.D. Flack/Stars and Stripes)
First Sgt. Yoshihiro Kamamoto, a member of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, helps unload a pallet of donated blankets from a U.S. Navy C-130 on Sunday at Misawa Air Base, Japan. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of goods have poured into the base as officials here have ramped up humanitarian relief efforts in Japanese communities hard hit by a deadly and devastating earthquake and tsunamis that pounded the northeastern part of the country on March 11. (T.D. Flack/Stars and Stripes)
Petty Officer 1st Class Steve Doboer, a member of the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Sixty-Two, watches as a pallet of donated blankets is pushed out the back of his C-130 on Sunday at Misawa Air Base, Japan. Doboer and fellow squadron mates picked the gear up at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, earlier in the day and brought them to Misawa as part of humanitarian relief efforts in Japanese communities devastated by a March 11 earthquake and follow-on tsunamis. (T.D. Flack/Stars and Stripes)
Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Landers waits as humanitarian relief supplies are unloaded from a Navy C-130 at Misawa Air Base, Japan, on Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of goods have poured into the base as officials there have ramped up humanitarian relief efforts in Japanese communities hard hit by a deadly and devastating earthquake and tsunamis that pounded the northeastern part of the country on March 11. (T.D. Flack/Stars and Stripes)
An Air Force member checks radiation levels on a Navy C-130 that brought humanitarian relief supplies to Misawa Air Base, Japan. After the plane was deemed safe, Japan Self-Defense Force members, U.S. sailors and contracted employees quickly unloaded several pallets of donated blankets and toilet paper from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. (T.D. Flack/Stars and Stripes)
Two airmen check radiation levels on a Navy C-130 that brought humanitarian relief supplies to Misawa Air Base, Japan, on Sunday. After the plane was deemed safe, Japan Self-Defense Force members, U.S. sailors and contracted employees quickly unloaded several pallets of donated blankets and toilet paper from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. (T.D. Flack/Stars and Stripes)
Petty Officer 1st Class Marcus Mathews, a member of the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Fifty-Three, arrives at Misawa Air Base, Japan, on Sunday. Mathews - temporarily assigned to VR-62 – helped bring humanitarian relief supplies from Marine Corps Air Station, Japan, to Misawa as part of efforts to assist Japanese communities hardest-hit by a March 11 earthquake and tsunamis. (T.D. Flack/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. sailors walk across a busy taxi area on the flight line at Misawa Air Base, Japan, on Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of humanitarian relief supplies have been delivered to the base in response to Operation Tomodachi, a U.S. military effort aimed at assisting Japanese communities hard-hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunamis. (T.D. Flack/Stars and Stripes)
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — With life slowly creeping back to normal at Misawa, attention has now turned to Operation Tomodachi, the U.S. military’s humanitarian relief efforts to assist communities devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunamis that pounded northeastern Japan.
As of Saturday night, more than 838,000 pounds of water, food, generators, hydraulic fluid, search-and-rescue equipment, batteries, toiletries and other supplies have been delivered via 61 sorties, according to Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Kimberly Schaerdel.
Seven more planes arrived Sunday, but details on the amount of cargo weren’t immediately available.
One C-130 from the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Sixty-Two, working from Atsugi Naval Air Facility in Tokyo, ferried several large pallets of blankets and toilet paper from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni to Misawa on Sunday afternoon.
Before Japan Air Self-Defense Force troops and contractor employees could begin unloading the plane, however, airmen from the base checked its radiation levels. Once cleared, the crews immediately began unloading and prepping the supplies to be sent out on helicopters and convoys.
Col. Michael Rothstein, commander of the 35th Fighter Wing and base, has stressed repeatedly that Misawa will play a vital role in the relief efforts. On Friday, the U.S. Navy moved about a dozen aircraft – both helicopters and planes – from Atsugi and Okinawa to Misawa to assist in the operations.
