Deployed 910th Reservists deliver life-saving cargo to Iraqi refugees Published Aug. 26, 2014 By Eric M. White 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- A C-130H Hercules aircraft cargo ramp opens to darkness over the mountains of Northern Iraq. An Air Force Reserve loadmaster preps palletized cargo for release and communicates with aircrew members via headset to coordinate precision timing. After a moment, the signal is given, the cargo is released and several pallets of food and water launch out the back of the aircraft and into the night, where thousands of Iraqi refugees await the lifesaving supplies on the ground below. This is the type of real-world mission for which Citizen Airmen with Youngstown Air Reserve Station's 757th Airlift Squadron (AS) spend thousands of hours training. Beginning the night of Aug. 8, 757th AS members, deployed to a location in Southwest Asia as part of the 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (EAS), were tasked with delivering humanitarian cargo to thousands of Iraqi refugees on Mount Sinjar. The refugees were isolated on the mountain after fleeing the Islamic extremist group ISIS. The stranded Iraqis faced dehydration and starvation. The first mission included a C-17 from the 816th Air Expeditionary Squadron and two C-130s from the 737th AS, which delivered 72 bundles of supplies including 5,300 gallons of water and 8,000 Meals Ready to Eat (MRE). By Aug. 14, Airmen had delivered 114,000 MREs and 35,000 gallons of water. Lt. Col. John Boccieri, commander of the 757th AS and deployed commander of the 737th EAS, commanded the final airdrop to the refugees. "We know that when the equipment (and) cargo that we drop out of the C-130 lands, it's actually going to help people live. That is the biggest reward of it all: when you know that your mission, your sacrifice, your training is able to improve the condition and lives of somebody who's in great need." The mission took coordination between several parties, including soldiers from the 11th Quartermaster Company, 264th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion and 82nd Sustainment Brigade, who helped load the aircraft. During the first airdrop, the C-17 and C-130s flew under escort by Navy F/A-18 Hornets. Senior Airman Timothy Kantorak, a 757th AS loadmaster deployed to the 737th EAS, participated in the mission. "It was a really rewarding experience having put in so much time training," said Kantorak, "to really help out some people who really need help." The Citizen Airmen deployed from the 757th AS are scheduled to return home next month.