OSS Airmen lend local town a helping hand following tornado Published March 6, 2013 By Senior Airman Elizabeth Van Patten 94th Airlift Wing Public Affairs ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. -- Disaster struck Adairsville, Ga. Jan. 30 when a large funnel cloud bore down on the small town. In the days following the storm, local media described the area as if it were a post-apocalyptic lithograph. Local papers and newscasts showed residents returning to their homes, assessing the damage and finding the resolve to dig through the rubble to begin rebuilding their lives. The following Monday, Senior Master Sgt. Eric Downing, of the 94th Airlift Wing Operational Support Squadron, took a day of leave to see what the damage was, how it was being handled and how he could help. "What I saw, was a community coming together not worrying over who was going to fix the devastation, but what each and every volunteer could do to assist those in need," said Downing. "I saw the true demeanor of Americans helping those in need and I knew I was in the right place to bring the 94th AW Airmen to the game and assist" Upon his return to work the next day, Downing informed the wing staff of his intention to take a group of volunteers from Dobbins Air Reserve Base to help in any way they could. With the support of the wing commander, Downing, along with Tech. Sgts. Preston Caldwell and Dallas Criswell and Airman Jade Orr-Martin made plans to meet up at a rally point in the small town. When the four Airmen arrived at the rally point, a local church, they were welcomed by the grateful volunteer coordinators within Team Rubicon. "Team Rubicon unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams," according to Team Rubicon officials. In other words, Team Rubicon is a national organization specializing in natural disaster response made up veterans. The group comes in to assess the general damages to an area, organizes available resources, comes up with a strategic plan based on the needs of the area and takes the first steps towards putting that plan into action. The group is not designed to be a long-term fixture within a community, but rather focuses on the needs of the community and what it will take to get that community self-sufficient again, according to Team Rubicon officials. It was this group that Downing met with to determine when and where the Airmen were needed most. Ultimately, they were given the task of going out to a trailer park to cut down topped pine trees and clear debris. In this case, debris was in the form of whole mobile homes. It looked as if a bomb had gone off in the middle of the park, damaging about 75 percent of the park, according to Downing. Residents of the park were in different stages of salvaging what belongings they could. Once they informed the volunteers they were finished, crews would break up the wreckage so that it could be carried off and discarded by a swarm of volunteers from around the region - including the Airmen. By the end of the day, the volunteers had cut down and cleared more than twelve damaged trees and filled several dumpsters with debris from five homes, according to Downing. "I know each of the volunteer Airmen that attended the clean-up, left the disaster area rewarded knowing they helped those in need," said Downing. "I was told the owner did not have any insurance on the park so he will have challenges to contend with in the future. He was very grateful for what 'Team Dobbins' accomplished." For Adairsville, it may be months, or even years before residents fully recovery from this unfortunate, perfect storm. Fortunately, Dobbins knows they are there, and it is likely they have not seen the last of the Airmen.
