Army rescue teams heading home from Patrick

At Patrick Air Force Base Wednesday morning, visiting soldiers finished readying the last of eight recently arrived HH-60 Black Hawk medevac helicopters for flight.

Fortunately, more than 40 members of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division planned to fly home to Fort Campbell in Kentucky on Thursday, not perform search and rescue operations they feared would be needed after Hurricane Irma roared through the state. 

“The real big win is that the state of Florida seems to be in good hands right now,” said Lt. Col. James Yastrzemsky, a battalion commander in the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade. “It doesn’t appear that we have to utilize our capacity.”

State and military partners prepared for a catastrophic outcome as Irma approached South Florida late last week at Category 4 strength.

For the first time, the 45th Space Wing received orders from U.S. Northern Command to support Army search and rescue units that would be staged as a precaution.

Just seven hours after winds had subsided enough to declare Patrick safe Monday, Air Force C-5 planes arrived carrying the eight Black Hawks, and a C-17 carrying the Army personnel whose slogan is, “When you want it done, call the 101.”

"They got the call to come support the homeland, and they were ready and prepared," Yastrzemsky said of his team.

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While Irma hammered the Keys and carved a swath from Naples up to Jacksonville, the Army rescue operation — and reconnaissance flown by Patrick’s own 920th Rescue Wing — ultimately stood down.

“We’re certainly proud to be a part of this mission, and very happy that we weren’t called upon,” said Yastrzemsky. “Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the great citizens of Florida, and across the country.”

The Black Hawk crews planned to fly over Cape Canaveral for an aerial tour of the spaceport on their way back to Fort Campbell.

“Lot of history there, so we’re going to take advantage of that,” said Yastrzemsky.

The 101st Airborne's departure comes against the backdrop of ongoing recovery efforts at Patrick and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which suffered widespread but mostly superficial damage from Irma's sustained winds near 60 mph and gusts up to 90 mph.

Evacuation orders were issued last Thursday, hours after SpaceX launched the Air Force’s X-37B space plane, and affected between 5,000 and 7,000 military and civilian employees who scattered up to 1,000 miles away.

They’re returning to work at Patrick, but the Cape remained open only to essential personnel due to water shortages, as at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Still, Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, commander of the 45th Space Wing, said Irma would not significantly disrupt rocket launches, which are expected to resume in early October.

”The two spacecraft that we have on station right now are healthy, are being monitored, and the seven rocket boosters rode out the storm just fine,” Monteith told reporters Wednesday on Patrick’s flight line.

United Launch Alliance and SpaceX have reported no major problems with their infrastructure.

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ULA delayed a planned national security mission this week from California so that members of the launch team could help prepare their families and homes for Irma. That, in turn, delayed the company’s next Cape launch until sometime in October.

As with Hurricane Matthew last year, a huge number of Air Force buildings sustained some damage, including almost all the base’s 616 housing units and at least half the Cape facilities.

But it was mostly battered roofs, gutters, soffits, awnings or minor structures. Beaches still needed inspection for erosion.

Pictures NASA posted of KSC appeared to show similar issues there.

Monteith estimated Irma repairs might total about $10 million — one-fifth the blow Matthew dealt.

“It was not nearly as bad as we had expected,” said Monteith. “Irma traveling over land for the most part really helped us out.”

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at facebook.com/jamesdeanspace.