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A U.S. Air Force Reserve C-130H Hercules with the 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, performs an aerial spray mission over the area effected by Hurricane Harvey, Sept. 13, 2017, at Lake Jackson, Texas. The 910th Airlift Wing operates the Department of Defense’s only aerial spray capability to control pest insect populations, eliminate undesired and invasive vegetation and disperse oil spills in large bodies of water. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) have requested the support of the 910th AW to treat potentially millions of affected acres for mosquito control purposes. Due to large amounts of standing, polluted water, the numbers of pest insects that can transmit diseases are increasing significantly. This situation poses a potential health risk to residents of eastern Texas and is impacting first responders and recovery workers as clean-up and repair efforts continue.(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Dyer)

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U.S. Airmen with the 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, prepare a C-130H Hercules for an aerial spray mission over the area effected by Hurricane Harvey, Sept. 12, 2017, at Joint Base San Antonio-Kelly Field Annex, Texas. The 910th AW operates the Department of Defense’s only aerial spray capability to control pest insect populations, eliminate undesired and invasive vegetation and disperse oil spills in large bodies of water. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) have requested the support of the 910th to treat potentially millions of affected acres for mosquito control purposes. Due to large amounts of standing, polluted water, the numbers of pest insects that can transmit diseases are increasing significantly. This situation poses a potential health risk to residents of eastern Texas and is impacting first responders and recovery workers as clean-up and repair efforts continue.(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Dyer)

433rd MXS supports 910th AW Hurricane Harvey relief effort

Published Sept. 19, 2017
By Benjamin Faske
433rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --

The 433rd Maintenance Squadron has been providing maintenance support to the 910th Airlift Wing from Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, as they conduct aerial spray missions in support of Hurricane Harvey relief efforts here. The 433rd MXS sheet metal shop has opened their doors to 910th Maintenance Squadron Citizen Airmen in the event that they need to conduct repairs to the four C-130 Hercules aircraft and their specialized Modular Aerial Spray System.

"Opening up our sheet metal shop provides their maintenance Airmen the opportunity to conduct repairs on their aircraft as needed by providing the equipment they need which would typically not be available during a deployment." said Capt. Nathan Lowman, 433rd MXS Maintenances Operations officer.

The Reserve Citizen Airmen to Reserve Citizen Airmen support has been critical to ensuring mission success.

"The 433rd Airlift Wing's back shop capability ensures that we will succeed in this contingency and have zero mission degradation," said Maj. Russell Moses, 910th Maintenance Squadron commander, "We needed the proper maintenance support which was a critical piece to the mission success and that is where the 433rd AW has helped us"

To date, the 910th AW has sprayed 2 million acres in east Texas to combat the growing mosquito population which is capable of transmitting diseases such as malaria, West Nile and Zika viruses. The 910th operates the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) only large area, fixed-wing aerial spray capability to control pest insect populations, eliminate undesired, invasive vegetation and disperse oil spills in large bodies of water.