Page 1 - Beacon 6-5-15

Vol. 80, No. 22 March Air Reserve Base, California - www.aerotechnews.com/marcharb Friday, June 5, 2015
NEWS BRIEFS
BACK STREET CAFÉ
UTA SCHEDULE
The Back Street Café has
begun renovation of the din-
ing area. Food operations
have relocated to the Wright
Brothers Bar located on the
east side of the Hap Arnold
Club. Entrances from Adams
Ave. can be used as well as
available parking across from
the Ballroom entrance.
Food operations begin for
the A-UTA weekend on June
6 and will continue throughout
the renovation. Operating hours
will remain the same and a lim-
ited menu will be available with Zealand and other places, Wright said his military obligations
most of your favorite items, ex- prevented him from going. As his squadron’s medical readi-
cluding pizza.
An express food service
will be available in the Atrium
as well as breakfast, lunch and
dinner in the dining room.
The newly renovated state-
of-the-art facility will feature
new lighting and furniture, an
improved serving line, digi-
tal menu boards, a revamped
menu, and new stations such as
a self-serve salad bar and Star- on things moved quickly, Wright said.
bucks coffee stations.
We appreciate your patience
during this renovation and are
committed to continue to pro-
vide quality service and support designated initial point of departure, to board a C-17 Globe-
to the Team March community.
Visit MarchFSS.com or
“Like” them on Facebook at
“MarchFSS” to stay up-to-date.
SCHOLARSHIPS
AVAILABLE FOR
MILITARY YOUTH
CAMP
The Air Force Service Ac-
tivity (AFSVA) is pleased to
announce the availability of
scholarships for military youth
at Island Lake Camp in the Po-
cono Mountains of Pennsylva-
nia during the weeks of 4-17
Aug 15.
Active duty, Air National
See BRIEFS page 3
Reservist deploys to Nepal as civilian
Urban Search and Rescue Specialist
by Linda Welz
452 AMW public affairs
Maj. Glenn ‘Tony’ Wright, 452nd Aerospace Medicine Courtesy photo
Squadron, March Air Reserve Base, recently returned from a
deployment to Nepal. Although he departed from March Field, Maj. Glenn ‘Tony’ Wright, 452nd Aerospace Medicine Squad-
he was not in military status. Wright is an engineer, and an Ur- ron, March Air Reserve Base, stands amid rubble in the
ban Search and Rescue Specialist (USAR) for the Los Angeles nation of Nepal while deployed there following a devastating
County Fire Department’s (LACoFD) California Task Force 2 earthquake in April 2015. Wright is an engineer, and an Urban
(CA-TF2), one of only two international USAR teams deploy- Search and Rescue Specialist (USAR) for the Los Angeles
able from the U.S. County Fire Department’s (LACoFD) California Task Force 2
(CA-TF2), one of only two international USAR teams deploy-
“I received the phone alert about 8 o’clock on Saturday of the able from the U.S.
April UTA,” Wright said. “I had already arranged to reschedule
Sunday, so I was available to respond.” mately rescued our first victim on the fourth day, a 15-year-old
young man.”
During the team’s prior deployments to Japan, Haiti, New
Unfortunately, due to the magnitude of the earthquake cou-
pled with building standards in the country, it would be more
ness officer, Wright is responsible for ensuring the readiness than two weeks before they had another live rescue.
of his members.
The most dramatic part of the deployment for Wright was
With 33 years of military experience, some of which was as when the second earthquake, a 7.3 magnitude, hit on May 13 at
an enlisted security policeman and a KC-135 boom operator, approximately 12:30 p.m. He admitted to never having been in
this citizen Airman is no stranger to rearranging schedules and a quake that strong and being a little scared.
getting things done.
“The teams had already packed all of our rescue equipment
He left the base after his Saturday drill on April 25, 2015 at 6 and we were in the process of demobilization,” Wright said.
p.m. and proceeded directly to the LACoFD USAR headquar- “Immediately after the second quake, we went back into rescue
ters in Pacoima, California, where he and the rest of CA-TF2 mode. We were responsible for rescuing several people who
members bedded down for the night. By 5 a.m. Sunday morn- were trapped and treating (their) injuries.”
ing they had received their official orders and from that point
In addition to being an engineer, USAR and firefighter/
paramedic with the LACoFD, Wright is also a hazardous
“We typically have most of our rescue equipment loaded on material technician, medical specialist and rescue specialist
pallets in order to expedite our departure.” with CA-TF2.
They left Pacoima at noon and headed to March Field, their Wright is the best example of a citizen Airman serving with
integrity, putting service before self, and providing excellence
master III with their equipment, bound for the earthquake- in everything he does.
stricken country of Nepal.
“We departed March as a medium rescue team of 57 mem-
bers about 9 p.m. on Sunday,” Wright said. “Our route included
stops in South Carolina, Ramstein (Air Base, Germany), then
directly to Katmandu Airport in Nepal.”
Upon their arrival in Nepal, they were prepared to immediate-
ly conduct rescue operations, but followed the directions of the
United States Office of International Development (USAID) by
establishing communication with their teammates from Fair-
fax County Fire Department (FFCoFD), Virginia, to establish
search and reconnaissance sectors with other responding na-
tions, Wright said.
There were more than 77 USAR teams deployed to the region
and many of those teams were not officially sanctioned by their
host nations, so one of the main functions of CA-TF2 was to
verify the search finding of other teams, Wright said.
“We conducted numerous search operations within the first
few days,” Wright said. “However, we discovered and ulti-