Moody's ride-out team responds to Hurricane Irma

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Daniel Snider
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs

Moody AFB’s ride-out team gathered within locked-down gates to endure Hurricane Irma Sept. 10.

 

The ride-out team consisted of an array of critical agencies that were responsible for providing an immediate assessment and correction of mission hampering damage caused by Hurricane Irma.

 

“We’re still an Air Force asset that needs to be ready to go anywhere in the world at any time to do the Air Force mission,” said Maj. Eric Kellogg, 23rd Civil Engineer Squadron hurricane recovery team chief. “Hurricane or not, that’s why we wear this uniform. We’ve got to do that stuff and if we can’t, we’re failing that mission.

 

“We’re here for immediately after winds die down; we send our crews out to get eyes on Moody’s critical infrastructure to get the mission back up and running as soon as possible.”

 

While many of the 23rd CES career fields often work in the background casually ensuring Moody’s infrastructure is up to par, natural disasters place them in a position to be the first to respond. 

 

“We’re here to keep the base running, and this is a good opportunity to show what [the 23rd CES] actually does,” said Senior Airman Justin Benito, 23rd CES ride-out team member. “People may only see us every once in a while, but this is the time to see what we do.”

 

Kellogg echoed Benito’s enthusiasm in being the team to kick-off recovery efforts after Hurricane Irma.

 

“This is a great crew,” Kellogg said. “I have nothing but confidence that we’ll get this base running as soon as we can physically do it. We’ve got families on the outside, but they’re part of my family too. I consider the Air Force my family and we’ve got to take care of family. It feels good to do my part and help.”