910th Citizen Airmen launch missions to support oil spill cleanup Published May 7, 2010 By 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Office YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Aircraft and crews from the 910th Airlift Wing, based here, have begun a historic mission to support emergency oil spill cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. C-130H Hercules aircraft, assigned to the Air Force Reserve's 910th, supported by a team of Citizen Airmen, started aerial spray operations Saturday, May 1, under the direction of the President of the United States and a tasking by the Secretary of Defense. The objective of the aerial spray operation is to neutralize the oil spill with oil dispersing agents. This mission was launched in response to the oil spill that is threatening the Gulf coast. The 910th's air and ground crew Reservists have launched several missions which mark the first time in the history of the Department of Defense's large area fixed wing aerial spray program that the oil dispersing capability has been used in an actual emergency. According to 910th Airlift Wing Aerial Spray Operations, weather is a limiting factor for conducting for these missions due to the nature of the aerial spray operations. The Department of Defense's 910th aerial spray oil dispersing mission is part of a whole-of-government response to this incident that also includes the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Coast Guard. The Citizen Airmen of the 910th Airlift Wing will be involved in this effort as long as they are needed based on mission requirements. For more than a decade, the 910th has participated in oil spill cleanup exercises, in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, that have sharpened the skills needed by the Air Force Reservists responding to this situation. The 910th Airlift Wing is home to the Department of Defense's large area, fixed wing, aerial spray mission. In addition to dispersing oil slicks, the aerial spray capability is designed for larvicide and insect eradication as well as providing vegetation control at bombing ranges.