In the wake of two major earthquakes that hit Venezuela, the United States military is surging aid, personnel, and aircraft to help coordinate relief. Roughly 100 highly specialized airmen from a contingency response element arrived in the country with the vital job of helping restart airport operations after the quakes.
U.S. Southern Command did not specify the unit, but photos posted to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service confirm the Air Force’s 621st Contingency Response Wing was deploying to Venezuela. The airmen are “to assist the Venezuelan government and aviation authorities with safely expanding the vital flow of inbound and outbound air traffic at Simón Bolivar International Airport,” U.S. Southern Command said in a release on Sunday.
As part of the military’s efforts to support the State Department-led disaster response, Air Force C-17s have flown in search and rescue teams, while Army CH-47 Chinooks and Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys have brought in supplies and personnel. The airmen from the 621st are specifically coming in to restore air operations to help the influx of more aid at scale.
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Venezuela was hit by a pair of 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes on Wednesday, causing widespread devastation to much of the country, including the capital, Caracas, and the Simón Bolívar International Airport. More than 1,400 people are dead from the quakes, with more than 50,000 reported missing. U.S. military personnel began arriving Thursday night, with an initial airfield assessment team getting to the country on Friday and partially restoring some airfield operations at the main airport.
The contingency response element from the 621st Contingency Response Wing “enhances” that work. The Air Force has said the teams’ missions include “aircraft quick-turn maintenance, airfield management, passenger and cargo movement, and command and control of personnel, aircraft, supplies threat assessment, force protection, air traffic control, weather, airfield systems maintenance, finance and contracting.” Photos show them sitting in C-17s packed to the brim with trucks, earth movers, and supplies for the mission.
The 621st Contingency Response Wing comprises 1,500 airmen and is split between the coasts, with airmen at Travis Air Force Base in California and at Joint Base McGuire-Dix Lakehurst in New Jersey. The wing’s mission is to help set up airfields or manage their operations in crises, such as combat zones or in the wake of disasters, including natural disasters such as earthquakes or hurricanes. In 2010, airmen from the wing flew into Haiti after that country’s devastating earthquake. Elements of the 621st deployed to Afghanistan in August 2021, helping to coordinate the evacuations of U.S. personnel from Kabul at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Alongside the contingency response element and aircraft, Southern Command has also moved more than 100 Marines into the country, including some to the Port of La Guaira to help reopen the port for bringing in supplies. Two warships, the USS Billings and the amphibious transport dock the USS Fort Lauderdale, were deployed to help coordinate operations from the nearby waters. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Kevin Jarrard is on the ground in Caracas as the top American military officer leading the response.
