Humanitarian Mission: Providing Afghan assistance

Published April 26, 2017
By Robb Lingley
21st Space Wing

April 26, 2017 -- PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – Squadrons from Team Pete loaded a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker with supplies for Afghanistan at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, April 11, 2017.
The 21st Space Wing, Logistics Readiness Squadron, along with the 302nd Airlift Wing, 39th Arial Port Squadron, loaded five pallets containing more than 13,000 pounds of winter jackets and lip balm to be delivered to Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina. The supplies will be shipped to children in Afghanistan at a later date.
Representatives of the Denton Program contacted Staff Sgt. Meagan Hasty, 39th APS, air reserve technician, about loading the cargo for delivery. Being short on personnel, Hasty contacted Technical Sgt. Ryan C. Rodgers, 21st LRS noncommissioned officer in charge of technical operations, who was more than happy to provide assistance.
“I said yes before I asked my Airmen for volunteers to load the cargo,” said Rodgers. “When I told them what it was for I had 11 volunteers.”
The Denton Program provides transportation for approved humanitarian assistance commodities destined for approved countries. Approved countries include those supported by the Department of Defense, transportation services, and where civil systems, local infrastructure and the supply chain will support immediate forward distribution of supplies.
In 2010 Debbie Perry-Smith, Cyrus International, Inc. founding director, contacted retired Gen. John Bradley and his wife, Jan, about used ski jackets and outfits obtained from various Colorado ski resorts and where they could be sent.
“That was the beginning of connecting with the Bradleys to send jackets overseas,” said Perry-Smith. “We’re now on our sixth or seventh load of sending jackets via the Denton Program, in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force, to Afghanistan.”
The Denton Program previously worked with the 39th APS to send coats to Djibouti, Africa.
“That time the coats went to the Porters Society of Mount Kilimanjaro and to an orphanage we have in northern Tanzania,” Perry-Smith said.
The coats were donated from ski resort instructors and students and are of highest quality.
Members of 21st LRS looks forward to participating in future endeavors with the Denton Program.
“If they ask we’ll do it,” said Rodgers. “I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for those guys and the things they do.”
The KC-135 can transport up to 83,000 pounds of cargo and uses space available to transport humanitarian goods to countries in need that are authorized by the Denton Program. Transportation is most frequently available to Afghanistan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Djibouti for supply delivery.