Reserve APS plays integral role in Haiti relief

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Monica L. Dalberg
  • 514th Air Mobility Wing
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. - --  One month after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti on Jan. 12, members of the 35th and 88th Aerial Port Squadrons, 514th Air Mobility Wing, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., arrived to aid with relief efforts.

Living on meals-ready-to-eat and residing in tents, nine volunteers from the Reserve APS are part of the 24th Air Expeditionary Group. The 24th AEG is helping with military and civilian movement; evacuation of passengers; done and upload of humanitarian cargo; training, and search and rescue. The 24th AEG has serviced over 13 different aircraft to include airframes from Cuba, Brazil, France and Russia, as well as American civilian airlines.

Language barriers have risen, but among the JB MDL members are Senior Airman Lesly Toussaint, a native Haitian fluent in four languages and Tech. Sgt. Roman Kernitski, a Ukrainian fluent in Russian and Polish.

Airman Toussaint translates for and assists deployed commanders, contractors, airport employees, and training sessions for Air Force firefighters as they train a Haitian fire department.

"I was devastated when the earthquake rolled through. I knew how poorly the buildings were built," said Airman Toussaint of structures in Haiti. According to the Department of Sustainable Development in Washington, Haiti and many other Caribbean countries do not have building codes.

"It's a privilege and I'm grateful to be here," added Airman Toussaint. "If not for the Reserve, I might not have this opportunity to help my fellow Haitians."

Sergeant Kernitski translates for Russian aid workers and aircrews.

"Being able to speak another language is definitely a huge plus in the current global environment. Being a Reservist you know that sooner or later your skills will come in need, especially language skills, but at the same time I would never have guessed that I would use it in Haiti," said Sergeant Kernitski.

JB MDL members have taken on tasks in addition to their aerial port duties. Master Sgt. John Vicenti and Sergeant Kernitski trained there to assume integrated command, control, and communications responsibilities. Master Sgt. Sebrena FlaggBriggs, Senior Airman Ayotunde Akinkunmi, Airman 1st Class Avalon Charles and Tech. Sgt. Rhonda Gambill have been integral in the redeployment of Army personnel in minimal time. Staff Sgt. Darrell Taylor volunteers as the safety monitor for the 24th AEG to ensure operations run without incident.

Additionally, members volunteer their time at orphanages, now overflowing with children, and at hospitals needing those trained in an array of skills to help with organizing stock rooms, bandaging wounds, and in one case, delivering a baby.

Staff Sgt. Jared Lacovara, 88th APS, Sergeants Vicenti and Kertnitski, and Airman Toussaint took part in recovering 6 of 15 Americans who perished at Hotel Montana, a posh hotel and tourist destination in Port-au-Prince.

Sergeant Vicenti said he will come away from this deployment with the satisfaction he helped families find closure and start rebuilding their lives. He has a good feeling that he is doing his part to make this world a better place for the Haitian people.

According to the U.S. Geological Center, the earthquake lasted some 35 seconds and was centered about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, the capital city. The quake ravaged buildings and roadways in the western hemisphere's poorest nation, wrought with decades of governmental coups, corruption and natural disasters. Crowded with about a third of Haiti's population of 9 million people, the Haitian government estimates the death toll at 212,000 with over 300,000 injured.

The last of the Reserve members in Haiti are expected to return from this humanitarian deployment in May.