Made a quick trip to NAS New Orleans on 1 Sept 05 with the beginning delivery of 60K MRE's from Nebraska. Not that it matters now but some of the reports that the government and military were slow to respond is off base. The National Guard both Air and Army have been working hard to get supplies, food and water to the people who need it. The fact that New Orleans was under water made it difficult to get to the people who were trapped in the city. NAS New Orleans was basically abandoned, except for troops who were there to help with the rescues and delivering aid, no power except emergency for the tower. Many building on base were damaged. Many aircraft were left behind but couldn't really tell the extent of the damage. When we were there Thursday, the helicopter traffic in and out of NAS New Orleans was non-stop, Coast Guard, Army, Army Guard copters and probably Marine as best I could tell. In addition to the Coast Guard C-130's (2 or 3) Our KC-135's from Lincoln (2 on Thursday and 2 on Friday morning ) I counted 6 different ANG C130 units coming in and out while we were on the ground. (approx 4 hours) There were probably more but was kind of busy with the MRE's to keep track. Maybe the response was slow but the way it was reported in the media made it sound like there was none-- Not true! The National Guard was one of the first responders, working hard in difficult situations.

Thanks

Mark Basel

NEANG