Operation Unified Assistance

摘要

The powerful earthquake and assive tsunami waves that devastated a huge area of Southeast Asia and killed more than 250,000 persons on Dec. 26 triggered one of the most intensive and challenging humanitarian air operations since the Berlin Airlift, more than half a century earlier. US Air Force aircraft and crews flew most of the missions that carried relief supplies and equipment into the theater and a large percentage of the flights to distribute the materiel over the vast region affected by the tsunami waves. By the time the US contribution to Operation Unified Assistance (OUA) was closing down in early February, American aircraft had moved more than 18 million pounds of relief supplies and equipment and nearly 8,000 passengers into and around the tsunami disaster area, according to Maj. Gen. David A. Deptula, director of air and space operations for Pacific Air Forces.