Air Force assets in Japan also include Kadena Air Base on Okinawa and Yokota Air Base, just outside of Tokyo.
Japanese authorities said hundreds of people were killed by the massive earthquake, which was followed by aftershocks, contributed to fires and prompted walls of water in some areas. It triggered a tsunami which prompted warnings across the Pacific Basin, unleashed high waves on Hawaii and threatened the U.S. West Coast.
Homer Knightstep, a retired U.S. Army Ranger who lives in Lebanon and teaches third-graders at Five Points East Elementary school in Springboro, said he was stationed in Japan during the 1995 Kobe earthquake.
“Then, I’m sure as we will see now, there will be a devastating loss of life,” Knightstep said. “The American forces will provide assistance such as blankets, water and food, as well as working to help the self-defense forces of Japan clean up.”
“The Japanese are strong people. They will prevail,” he said.
American military aircraft in Japan, including F-16 fighters, Navy surveillance planes and Air Force C-17 and C-130 transports, were standing by as needed to assist either the Japanese government or authorities in Hawaii, Haynes said. There was no indication that the quake had damaged any of the U.S. aircraft, he said.
A total of nearly 50,000 U.S. military personnel are in Japan, along with about 5,500 Defense Department civilian employees, plus their families.
The 445th Airlift Wing, the Air Force Reserve unit at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base that flies transport aircraft internationally to haul weapons, munitions and other supplies to support warfighters, had not received any call to supply aircraft for the Pacific region, spokeswoman Lt. Col. Cynthia Harris said.
“Generally, they would get units closer to the Pacific,” Harris said.
Wright-Patterson had not been asked to provide assistance, and does not have any people supporting operations in the U.S. Pacific Command area of responsibility, Wright-Patterson base spokesman Derek Kaufman said.
The 445th Airlift Wing is in transition to C-17 aircraft from its older C-5 Galaxy transports. The unit already has three of the C-17s it is to receive. By the end of fiscal 2012, the Air Force expects to have provided the 445th with eight C-17s to replace its 10 C-5s, which are to be reassigned or retired.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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