News Video: Crew returns from Puerto Rico relief mission Published Oct. 20, 2017 By Eric White 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Office YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Video transcript: A team of nine Reserve Citizen Airmen from the 910th Airlift Wing returned from a ten-day mission in support of Puerto Rico relief efforts this morning, Oct. 20, at 10 A.M. During the mission, the crew moved 61 thousand pounds of cargo and 86 passengers. Capt. Zach Eberle, a pilot with the 757th Airlift Squadron, was the aircraft commander for the mission. Eberle: “Yeah, so a typical day, we were staging out of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. When we landed, they would put us on an alert status, and we would stand by until a mission came up. They would call us, and three hours after that we’d be in the air.” The cargo included food, water, vehicles, other equipment and power generators. Eberle: “We also swapped out a deployed unit there. We took 50 personnel in there and brought 50 out. “ The team is the second from Youngstown Air Reserve Station to assist with Puerto Rico relief efforts. One of their sorties back to Florida from the island included a special passenger: a Border Collie. Eberle: “On our last mission back into the United States, we were carrying a military family and they were leaving Puerto Rico to come back to evacuate, and that was their family dog.” The 910h’s role was mainly to get cargo onto the island, where it would be broken down and delivered to those in need via helicopter. Eberle: “On one of our missions, they actually took our cargo off, and they had a helicopter running behind us and they were loading cargo into that.” Although the crew is back in Youngstown, the 910th’s work is not yet done. A couple hours after this crew returned, a third team took off to support ongoing recovery efforts. Among the departing crew was 910th Maintenance Squadron Crew Chief Tech Sgt. Ken Hesser who had just returned home on board the earlier flight. Hesser: “From what I understand down there, simple things like toilet paper people do not have. While we were down there we saw ospreys and helicopters immediately delivering water and MREs to people, and they have a regular schedule that they keep so these people can eat. I guess the island is very devastated.” Reporting for the 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs office, I’m Public Affairs Specialist Eric White.