[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 36 (Friday, March 15, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S2208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO THE CREW OF SPECIAL AIR MISSION 3311 TO HAITI IN SEPTEMBER 
                                  1994

 Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I would like to recognize the 
outstanding service of the crew of Special Air Mission 3311, which 
transported former President Jimmy Carter, retired U.S. Army Gen. Colin 
Powell, and myself to and from Haiti in September 1994. This mission 
was a last chance attempt to achieve a peaceful return to power of 
Haiti's democratically elected government. Although the successful 
outcome of the United States negotiating effort is well known, I want 
to reflect for a moment on the bravery and high level of 
professionalism exhibited by the air crew that gave our mission of 
peace the opportunity it needed to succeed.
  Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with one of the members of 
this aircrew and I recalled the extraordinarily difficult conditions 
under which the aircrew members were forced to operate. On the evening 
of September 16, 1994, this aircrew was given less than 8 hours to 
prepare for a 6 a.m. departure for the following day in which neither 
the destination, nor the passengers of the flight, were known. Only 3 
hours before the flight's scheduled departure did the aircrew learn of 
its orders to transport General Powell from Andrews Air Force Base to 
Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, where they would pick up former 
President Carter and myself, and continue its flight to Port-au-Prince, 
Haiti. Intelligence sources at that time indicated that the runway at 
the Port-au-Prince airport was unusable. There were large amounts of 
debris littering the runway, including nails and 8-foot-high metal 
containers. Only minutes prior to the landing, as much debris as 
possible was moved to the sides of the runway. Miraculously, and with 
no margin for error, the crew was able to land the aircraft with only 
20 feet of wing-tip clearance. However, the crew's ordeal did not end 
at that point in the mission.
  On September 18, the aircraft returned for our mission's departure 
from Haiti. Delays in our negotiations resulted in the crew having to 
wait for more than ten hours in the plane for the return of our 
delegation. The crew members endured heat in excess of 120 degrees 
while maintaining the aircraft's readiness for an instant departure 
with minimal support facilities. The crew had to function under the 
additional stress of knowing that the negotiations were not proceeding 
very well. When our negotiating team arrived at the aircraft for 
departure, the crew had no knowledge concerning the final outcome of 
our discussions or the current status of a United States invasion force 
that was enroute from Pope Air Force Base to Haiti. Only after a 
successful takeoff under these tense conditions did the crew learn that 
the negotiations had concluded successfully.
  Mr. President, the courage, dedication, and professionalism of the 
aircrew of Special Air Mission 3311 to Haiti represent the finest 
qualities of the men and women serving in our Nation's Armed Forces. 
For their dedication, each member of the aircrew was awarded the Air 
Medal. In addition, this extraordinary unit received the 21st Air Force 
Aircrew Excellence Award for the third quarter 1994 and was nominated 
for the Lt. Gen. William H. Tunner Award for Outstanding Air Mobility 
Command Aircrew. They made a major contribution to our mission to 
Haiti. Today, I want to pay tribute to the excellent job that they 
performed and I ask that a list of the names of those outstanding 
individuals who served in Special Air Mission 3311 be printed in the 
Record.
  The list follows:

                  The Crew of Special Air Mission 3311

       Major Loail M. Sims, Jr.
       Lieutenant Colonel William F. Dea
       Captain Peter M. Lenio
       Major David B. Ingersoil
       Captain Steven A. Burgess
       Master Sergeant Mark L. Buchner
       Staff Sergeant Kenneth K. McNamara
       Master Sergeant David A. Nelson
       Staff Sergeant Kimberly M. Herd
       Master Sergeant Brian D. Smith
       Master Sergeant Karen G. Kron
       Staff Sergeant Sheila L. Bradley
       Staff Sergeant Darryl O. Walizer
       Staff Sergeant Lennard C. Edwards
       Master Sergeant John M. Piva
       Staff Sergeant John C. Bergquist
       Staff Sergeant John Bresnahan
       Technical Sergeant Victor N. Gobe'r
       Technical Sergeant Roy L. Tatum.

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