[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 102 (Friday, July 29, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
      IMPORTANCE OF C-130H TRANSPORT PLANES TO AIR NATIONAL GUARD

  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, last year, a small boy from Sarajevo wanted 
to make sure the pilot of the silver planes from Kentucky got a note so 
that he could thank him for his help.
  ``Mr. Pilot of the Kentucky Air National Guard * * * I love you for 
help me,'' he wrote, in the best English he could.
  The silver planes he referred to are the C-130H transport aircraft 
used by the Kentucky Air National Guard not only in Bosnia but in 
Somalia and soon in Rwanda.
  Back in 1990, I had funds included in the 1991 defense authorization 
bill for the purchase of 12 of these aircraft to modernize the Kentucky 
National Guard aircraft fleet.
  But earlier this year, despite the skill and precision Kentucky's Air 
National Guard have demonstrated with this aircraft, the Active Air 
Force proposed taking four of our planes.
  After testifying before the Armed Services Committee and taking the 
National Guard's case directly to the Department of Defense, John 
Deutch, Deputy Secretary of Defense, put the brakes on this transfer 
and signed an order maintaining the current status of 12 airplanes at 
Kentucky's 123d.
  Mr. President, I believe that was a wise decision and in the best 
interests of this country's national security and humanitarian 
missions.
  Tomorrow morning, Kentucky's Air National Guard 123d Airlift Wing 
will leave for Mombasa, Kenya, to aid in the Rwandan relief effort.
  They will bring them unmatched experience in delivering the food, 
water, and relief supplies the Rwandan refugees need so desperately.
  I have no doubt they will make a difference and that the children of 
Rwanda will come to know the same pilot of the silver planes from 
Kentucky, who brought relief to a boy in Sarajevo.
  As one Kentucky pilot, Ted Perero, said, ``It's a shame it had to 
come to this. This is man-made misery. But if we can do something to 
save those kids * * *.''
  Mr. President, at this point I ask unanimous consent that the 
following article from the Louisville Courier-Journal be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

          [From the Louisville Courier-Journal, July 29, 1994]

   Rwanda-Bound: Kentucky's Airlift Experts Get a New Relief Mission

                            (By Todd Murphy)

       Ted Parero has seen the pictures--Rwandan children, 
     refugees from their homeland without family, sick, hungry, 
     dying.
       ``They don't deserve any of this,'' he said yesterday. 
     ``They don't.''
       But Parero and the people he works with knew they might be 
     asked to give more than sympathy.
       Yesterday it became official: 50 members of the Kentucky 
     Air National Guard's 123rd Airlift Wing--including Parero, a 
     pilot from Louisville who flew missions in Bosnia last year--
     will deploy to Africa starting tomorrow to aid in the 
     international Rwandan relief effort.
       The contingent from the 123rd, which also has been involved 
     in relief in Somalia and Bosnia the past two years, will be 
     part of a 150-person National Guard airlift, joined by units 
     from Texas, Missouri and Tennessee. They also will be among 
     4,000 U.S. troops assisting Rwandan refugees.
       Three months of fighting between followers of Rwanda's Hutu 
     government and the mainly Tutsi rebels of the Rwandan 
     Patriotic Front have left about 500,000 people dead. The 
     fighting also has forced 2.2 million Rwandans to flee their 
     country including more than a million who have gathered in 
     neighboring Zaire. Relief workers estimate that 20,000 died 
     of starvation or disease in the past week.
       The National Guard units will be based in Mombasa, Kenya, 
     and fly to areas in and around Rwanda that need food, water 
     and medical supplies.
       The 123rd contingent will heave Standiford Field about 2 
     a.m. tomorrow, and the trip will take more than 24 hours. The 
     unit is expected to be in Africa at least 30 days. Crews will 
     fly two of the unit's giant, gray C-130s-- airplanes that one 
     123rd member called the ``four-wheel-drive pickup truck of 
     airplanes.''
       ``This is the workhorse,'' Senior Master Sgt. Mike Harp of 
     Louisville said as he showed off one of the unit's C-130s. 
     ``Whatever you ask it to do, it'll pretty much do.''
       The Kentucky unit has a dozen of the newest C-130s, which 
     are exceptionally maneuverable and include computer equipment 
     older airplanes do not have. That may have been a primary 
     reason the unit was asked to participate in the relief 
     mission, said Col. Ed Tonini, spokesman for the Kentucky Air 
     National Guard.
       The mission may require landing on crude, dirt airstrips. 
     ``We do that job better than any other aircraft in the 
     world.'' he said.
       But Tonim and other 123rd members said they may have been 
     asked to take part in these missions because of their 
     experience, their willingness to volunteer and because the 
     unit does good work.
       Tonini said most of the 50 who will be going have 
     participated in at least one of the relief missions in Bosnia 
     or Somalia. A couple of the 123rd members interviewed 
     yesterday had taken part in the relief mission to Somalia 
     early in 1993 and all three Bosnian missions the past two 
     years.
       Members said participating can be a sacrifice for them and 
     their families, especially when the missions continue for 
     weeks. But, they said, such missions are what they train for 
     and serve as reminders of how their work can save lives.
       It's a great feeling,'' said Capt. Brad Greschel of 
     Shelbyville, who'd been planning to begin a vacation from his 
     Federal Aviation Administration job today. Instead, he will 
     spend the month in Africa. ``It's real world. It's actually 
     helping somebody, instead of flying around the flag poles . . 
     . training for a war that may never come--at least we hope 
     doesn't come.''
       And, while the relief work can be exhausting--often running 
     to 16 hour days--members can get special gratification when 
     people tell them how they have helped.
       ``It can get real emotional at times, when . . . somebody 
     walks up to you, shakes your hand and says, ``Thanks a lot,'' 
     Harp said.
       After their Bosnian missions last year, a French worker who 
     unloaded food and medical supplies gave a C-130 commander 
     from the 123rd a note written by a boy who lived near the 
     Sarajevo airport. The boy had told him to give the note to 
     the ``pilot of the silver planes from Kentucky.''
       In crude English, the note thanked ``Mr. Pilot of the 
     Kentucky Air Nat. Guar.'' for the help. ``I love you for help 
     me.'' it read.
       ``That makes it all worthwhile,'' Parero said.
       Of the Rwandan mission, he said: ``It's a shame it had to 
     come to this. This is a man-made misery. But if we can do 
     something to save those kids. . . .''
  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky suggests the absence 
of a quorum. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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