SWANNANOA, N.C. — A group of former Special Forces operators who converted a local Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership into a hurricane relief supply warehouse are so efficient in delivering aid to mountain communities that U.S. Army Command It even attracted visits from government officials. Airborne troops.
Lt. Gen. Chris Donahue of the 18th Airborne Corps, Fort Liberty, Fayetteville, North Carolina, visited the makeshift Savage Freedoms Relief Operations Center on Oct. 15 to discuss the all-volunteer supply chain. I confirmed with my own eyes what the commanders had reported.
“Dear Ground Force Commanders of the 101st Regiment.” [Airborne] “The members who were in the area reported to General Donahue at Sitrep about the work this volunteer group is doing here at Swannanoa,” said Adam R. Smith, 41, a retired Army Green Beret who runs the depot. spoke.
“Especially how effectively we've integrated with them on the ground and how effective they've been in supporting our efforts on the ground,” Smith told Blaze News.
Before Smith established a military supply chain,
Savage Freedoms relief efforts The philanthropist had to rescue his own family in late September when rains from Hurricane Helen caused devastating flooding and mudslides across western North Carolina.
“This will take years.”
Smith was in Texas when the powerful hurricane moved inland from Florida and roared north, flooding the mountainous area around Asheville, North Carolina. Mr Smith feared his wife Megan, 40, and their three-year-old daughter Tobe would be killed in the floods, as their home in Black Mountain is just a short distance from the Broad River.
Smith said:
charlotte observer On September 28, a friend flew him home in a helicopter and airlifted his family to safety, the paper said. This was one of the first Hurricane Helen relief efforts in western North Carolina.
The nerve center of the supply chain relies on hundreds of volunteers to process, sort, and package a steady stream of humanitarian aid, and to transport military and civilian helicopters, trucks, utility vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, and other equipment needed. We are working on loading it into the mode. To deliver food, water, winter gear, generators and heaters to some of the most remote areas of Western North Carolina.
Smith said there is an urgent need for warm clothing and supplies as nighttime temperatures dip into the 30s. Monetary donations can be sent to:
savage freedom website or GoFundMe page It was established to support relief efforts.
On Oct. 14, crews loaded giant rolls of hay onto a National Guard Chinook CH-47 helicopter that took off from the Savage Freedoms relief effort. This and similar flights will help farmers keep their livestock alive while normal shipping routes are cut off. Recent airlift deliveries included livestock feed for cattle, pigs, goats and chickens.
The twin-rotor Chinook heavy-lift aircraft is used to transport large quantities of supplies on each flight, and is also used to rescue people trapped in flood waters.
Smith said the U.S. Air Force Reserve is providing air traffic control experts to help manage flights in and out of the base. That expertise helped officially designate the base as a helicopter landing zone.
“They are essentially tactical air traffic controllers,” Smith told Blaze News. “We received direct support from the Air Force Reserve, which gave us a much better ability to not only control the airspace better, but also acquire officers.” [notice] The FAA has made this the official HLZ. [helicopter landing zone] With a dedicated frequency, it became our controlled airspace. ”
The setup was very efficient. “We've done a lot of sorties with small numbers of birds,” Smith said.
Operations at the base range from air and land humanitarian relief to specially trained cadaver dogs that search for human remains in mud and rubble. The medical team performs medical exams on community members and writes and arranges prescriptions “to make sure people have what they need and can stay alive,” Smith said.
Adam Smith (left) of Savage Freedoms Relief Operations guides Lt. Gen. Chris Donahue, commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps, at Hurricane Relief Base in Swannanoa, North Carolina, Oct. 15, 2024. Donahue (right) signs a photo and flag at the operations center.Photo by Steve Baker/Blaze News
Smith's operation includes an intelligence division that gathers social media for clues about people in need, and an operations group that identifies where help is needed and schedules transportation. Community support teams are working to provide drinking water to schools and welfare facilities.
“We go out and vet the information, and once it's vetted, it comes back and is transferred to ground operations or air operations,” he said. “We create a pre-specified supply package and once approval is received, the supply package is loaded onto a helicopter or ground vehicle and pushed to the location.”
Smith said the extensive military experience of most volunteers helped the warehouse integrate with various U.S. military assets and personnel around North Carolina.
“At this point, the fluidity and efficiency of our efforts with which we have been able to work with National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and active-duty forces is one of the primary reasons we have been able to achieve what we have. ” It is used very effectively. [military air support]We can get materials and supplies to where they are needed,” he said.
Units from the 101st Airborne Division and 82nd Airborne Division are active in disaster relief in North Carolina. Both are members of the 18th Airborne Corps under General Donahue.
More than 11,000 National Guard troops in six states are helping with recovery from Hurricane Helen and Hurricane Milton, according to the National Guard Bureau. More than 3,600 Guard members from 15 states are serving on Hurricane Helen relief missions.
Maj. Gen. Ronald Wynn Burkett II, director of the National Guard Bureau's Domestic Operations and Force Development Bureau, said more than 750 people were taken into custody.
rescued In North Carolina alone, troopers carried out rescue operations, including 219 people who were extracted by hoist to a hovering helicopter.
Adam Smith of the Savage Freedoms relief effort speaks to volunteers at a temporary supply warehouse at a Harley-Davidson dealership in Swannanoa, North Carolina, on October 15, 2024.Photo by Steve Baker/Blaze News
One of the more pressing tasks these days is rumor management and disinformation. Smith and some of his leaders are reaching out to all churches and relief organizations in Buncombe County to make sure they know how to request assistance and to be on the lookout for scammers trying to steal or take over supplies. I warned you.
This personal communication also helps dispel rumors that movements like Savage Freedoms are part of some anti-government militias.
Mr Smith said the damage caused by Hurricane Helen was staggering.
“The scale of the devastation is far greater than what is being reported by the national news media,” he said. “And this message and this idea that everyone is going to be okay is just not true. Recovery efforts aren't going to take a week or two weeks or a month or two months. This is going to take years. I guess.”
Mr. Smith has provided extensive support for Savage Freedoms relief efforts with his personal funds. He said he believes God will help him “find a way out of it.”
“We spent all our money, all our savings,” Smith said. “As far as this is concerned, this could either make or break us, and right now we are hurting economically.
“But I think if we keep saying yes to God and keep doing His work and have no fear in our hearts, He will provide.”
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