Aaron is in Okinawa and will continue on to the Philippians and Thailand. I talked to him earlier in the evening and we both agree that we are safe and have been reassured many times over that we indeed are safe. There is nothing on the horizon that would make me feel that could change any time soon, so we are here until we are told the evacuations are mandatory.
I say that but I also want to let you know that I am not one of those old guys standing stubbornly in the doorway refusing to let good judgement rule and refuse to leave. My children are my priority and if it is in anyway unsafe, we will evacuate, but until then, we are staying.
If it comes to mandatory evacuations or we feel it is time to go and we have a choice, we will go to Okinawa and stay with our best friends and frolic on the beach for a little bit then head home. If we don't get a choice, well then we go where we need to and stay were we need to and move on.
Below are 2 emails recently received from our leadership. The first is the Director of Operations at the 36th Airlift Squadron. The second is a transcript from the base commander Col Otto Feather.
We love you all and know that you are all praying for us and our family. I wish we could skip to next week or even next month and get back to normal, but for now, we take things one step at a time and move on.
Eagle Airlifters and Spouses,
There has been a lot of questions about the Department of State (DoS) voluntary departure. Here is the best information that I have been able to put together on the situation so far.
Before I get into any details, I want to reiterate that here at Yokota, the water is safe, the air is good, food is available, the lights are still on and everyone has a roof over their head. The radiation monitoring has not detected any increased levels on Yokota and the crews and airplanes that are flying relief supplies into northern Honshu have not been exposed to any increased levels either. Other than the roads being a little congested off base, the little slice of real estate that we call Yokota AB is operating just like it did a month ago and is just as safe.
I cut the next two paragraphs from the State Department website to make sure that I reference the facts:
The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo informs U.S. citizens in Japan who wish to depart that the Department of State is making arrangements to provide transportation to safehaven locations in Asia. This assistance will be provided on a reimbursable basis, as required by U.S. law. U.S. citizens who travel on US government-arranged transport will be expected to make their own onward travel plans from the safehaven location.
U.S. forces remain in Japan and the U.S. has full capability to fulfill our alliance commitments to defend Japan and maintain peace and security in the region. The Department of Defense will implement the Dept. of State-approved voluntary departure for eligible DoD (Dept of Defense) dependents. As with State Dept. dependents, these measures are temporary, and dependents will return when the situation is resolved. Eligible DoD dependents will be given travel instructions by their local commands.
The Wing is working on a plan so that those that wish to leave can do so in an orderly fashion. I do not recommend making any hasty decisions to depart and I want to emphasize that the safehaven could be the gym floor at one of the bases farther south or accommodations that aren’t nearly as comfortable as your current quarters. I’ll be candid and tell you my family isn’t going anywhere . The situation here is stable and safe and nothing indicates that will change. If you wish to leave, the base will do everything possible to move you in an expeditious manner to minimize the distraction to our primary mission. We’re still moving supplies to the affected areas and helping people to get fresh water, fuel for heat, and blankets to stay warm. The Eagle Airlifters are the only tactical airlifters in the western Pacific, this is what we train to do on a daily basis and we’re doing great work.
As I get more information on how the base will implement the voluntary departure, I will get that information out as soon as possible. Rumors are rampant and I’m working to get the ground truth put out as frequently as possible. Please don’t contribute to the rumor mill and remember that each base in the Tokyo area will implement this plan a little differently.
RHETT C. BOLDENOW, Lt Col, USAF
36 AS Operations Officer
DSN: 315-225-5615
BB: +81 (0)90-1122-4143
Wing commander announces voluntary airlift for military dependents during AFN radio interview March 17 at 2:45 p.m.
374th Airlfit Wing Public Affairs
3/17/2011 - YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan -- The following is information provided by Col. Otto Feather, 374th Airlift Wing commander, during a radio interview with American Forces Network during a radio interview at 2:45 p.m. March 17.
I've got an update. I've got some good news: I know there are a lot of people trying to figure out how to get out of here, and I'm not surprised that there are people that want to get on the road. I think the State Department is going to be releasing some information in the not-too-distant future to talk about some voluntary airlift going out of Japan.
We're still trying to sort out what it would be or how it would work, but the last thing we want is people panicking and clamoring and clawing to get out of here, at a time when we need calm and patience. So, for those folks that really want to go, I think we're going to be able to offer an opportunity in the next couple of days, or so, to make that happen.
The important thing is--and I know everybody just got done listening to that last broadcast--that we want to be responsive. We don't want to be reactive. It's not like people in the theatre who want to rush out the door all at the same time because somebody yells "fire!"
We want to have a slow "get up out of your seat, watch the credits, and drop your popcorn in the trash" kind of approach. Because there are so many [people] that want to leave, I think it's good that it looks like we're going to be able to do that; and it will be at government expense.
I don't have all the details on it--as a matter of fact, I have very few details on it--e.g. where it would be, how we would approach it and the like. But, as always, you can rest assured that we will putting that [information] out on the Commanders Access Channel, Channel 20. And in the meantime, as we're sorting through it, the air at Yokota is good, the water is good, and so is the chow.
So we're prepared: we've got our ducks in a row, everybody's got a chance to take a look at how to do this, and, again, we practice it all the time. So we're pretty proud of our profession, of what we do. For us airlifters, this is bread and butter.
Interviewer mentions the united effort of people from around the world to provide support for the people of Japan.
Our real thrust is taking care of our partners here in Japan. We're going to do everything so that, even though we're talking about voluntary departures, we're talking about civilians and kids that maybe want to get home to mom and grandma and what have you.
So that will be what we're focusing on for those folks. But the rest of us in blue, and our brethren from the purple world, are going to be lockstep here with the Japanese, doing everything we can to take care of the recovery from this terrible tsunami and earthquake.
Interviewer asks Col Feather for any final comments.
I don't have any sage words of advice except to let everybody know that we're safe. Breathe through your nose and relax, and we'll make sure that we do everything that we do in an appropriate way. I'm comfortable here. I'm not going anywhere. My wife and I are going to be eating dinner at the house for the next several weeks. And I don't have any doubts that what we're doing is prudent and safe and responsible.
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