300 U.S. airmen return home from Iraq and Afghanistan

9/3/2005 8:00:00 PM GMT

300 U.S. airmen deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan will return to Mississippi to assist their families cope with the aftermath of the deadly Hurricane Katrina, officials said on Saturday.

"The U.S. Central Command Air Forces is sending 300 Active Duty and Air Force Reserve Airmen home who were assigned to Keesler Air Force Base (in Biloxi, Mississippi) so they can attend to their families' needs after Hurricane Katrina," Captain David Small said Saturday.

"The airmen have already begun redeploying (from Iraq and Afghanistan) and will all be home as soon as possible," he added.

"Nearly 100 airmen who were scheduled to deploy from Keesler AFB (to the Central Command area of responsibility) will not deploy now" in order to help with the rescue effort in Mississippi, one of the states damaged by the hurricane, Small said.

“While our focus remains on fighting the war on terrorism, taking care of people is a top priority,” "We are facilitating the effort to expeditiously replace airmen directly affected by this catastrophe with other Air Force personnel," Brigadier General Allen G. Peck, the deputy commander of the U.S. air forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, said in a statement he has prepared. “They can’t effectively perform the mission if their heads and hearts are focused on the safety and welfare of their loved ones.”

Keesler Air Force Base was hit by Hurricane Katrina but its staff and their families survived unharmed and are now staying in shelters, the base said.

Air Force personnel whose families live in the hurricane-hit areas and who are not assigned to Keesler need to first request emergency leave through normal channels, and leave will be granted on a case-by-case basis, officials said.

Thousands have lost their lives since Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday.

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