4000+ Air Force Students ordered to stay on base in Biloxi

[Guest]

http://mainstreetbiloxi.com/areamaps/ biloxi street maps

[yoda]

It is airforce policy to stay. My brother just called me not 10 minutes ago. They are all there - at least the students are. The rest are gone.

Navy, Marines, Army, National Guard, etc. have all evacuated the region. My brother and several thousand untrained and unprepared Air Force students in tech school are about to get hit dead on with a 4/5 storm. This is crazy.

That is just insanity! I'll see what I can do up here... my grandfather has some connections in the military.

[senorpepr]

"another note: this is common for them to keep everyone there at Keesler. They do it to keep tabs on everyone and to keep them safe rather than letting them venture out on their own."

What? Doesn't sound like they are keeping them safe by making them stay to me.

If they let them go, a majority of the folks there (who've never dealt with a hurricane before) would be clueless on how to act. Where do they go? A majority would probably stay nearby, not in a shelter of any kind. Remember that the bulk of this folks are young, new airmen with little money.

Do you send everyone back home for a few days? Very few of the students have cars and even less have family within a reasonable day's driving distance. Plane tickets for everyone would be very costly.

Also, I believe they kept everyone there at Keesler during Georges, Fredrick, and Camille. If I'm not mistaken, they kept everyone there at Homestead during Andrew. I do know they kept everyone at Andersen during Super Typhoon Paka.

[MBismyPlayground]

Actually, it is "normal" protocol for the military. They usually "lock" everyone down. Although I would disagree onsiderin the severity of the storm. I do know that most military bases do have storm shleters but in a barracks?? Many barracks are out dated, even condemned. This seriously makes NO SENSE. But, I recall a severe snow stom in NC and the base was closed by the post commander, no one was supposed to be on the streets because of snow and black ice. My husbands unit was still forced to do PT. I made a few calls and POOF he was home and the unit commander was definitly up the creek. I am just curious if this "order" was made by the post commander or the commander in charge of the students.

[Guest]

It isn't going to take much of a storm surge to flood the base.

[Psychonaut777]

Its the airforce though! they evac'd all the planes already, they should have put the kids on them. They could have taken them all in like 10 planes to Lackland AFB Texas or hell, anywhere else. They don't have to let them go, just take them all somewhere.

[Psychonaut777]

The order was made by General Lord of Keesler AFB and his command.

[Guest]

Planes are worth more than peoples lives I guess. Sorry but this just isn't right.

[senorpepr]

Actually, it is "normal" protocol for the military. They usually "lock" everyone down. Although I would disagree onsiderin the severity of the storm. I do know that most military bases do have storm shleters but in a barracks?? Many barracks are out dated, even condemned. This seriously makes NO SENSE. But, I recall a severe snow stom in NC and the base was closed by the post commander, no one was supposed to be on the streets because of snow and black ice. My husbands unit was still forced to do PT. I made a few calls and POOF he was home and the unit commander was definitly up the creek. I am just curious if this "order" was made by the post commander or the commander in charge of the students.

The "barracks" (now called dorms) at Keesler are not outdated. They were built between 1999-2002.

[MBismyPlayground]

The order was made by General Lord of Keesler AFB and his command.

Is he the post commander????? And yet he had the rest of the post evacuate???? Sounds like he is making sure he has "able" bodies to do the clean up..........Do you know if they are in barracks or are they in a shelter of some sort?

[senorpepr]

Its the airforce though! they evac'd all the planes already, they should have put the kids on them. They could have taken them all in like 10 planes to Lackland AFB Texas or hell, anywhere else. They don't have to let them go, just take them all somewhere.

Actually, since Keesler is a training base, they don't have very large planes. To transport 4K people it would take many planes that would have to be brought from other bases.

[Psychonaut777]

I've heard the shelters are 7 years old or so, but I doubt they were made to withstand this type of impact. I'm really praying here, for my brother and those kids, and especially for the New Orleans area.

[yoda]

"another note: this is common for them to keep everyone there at Keesler. They do it to keep tabs on everyone and to keep them safe rather than letting them venture out on their own."

What? Doesn't sound like they are keeping them safe by making them stay to me.

If they let them go, a majority of the folks there (who've never dealt with a hurricane before) would be clueless on how to act. Where do they go? A majority would probably stay nearby, not in a shelter of any kind. Remember that the bulk of this folks are young, new airmen with little money.

Do you send everyone back home for a few days? Very few of the students have cars and even less have family within a reasonable day's driving distance. Plane tickets for everyone would be very costly.

Also, I believe they kept everyone there at Keesler during Georges, Fredrick, and Camille. If I'm not mistaken, they kept everyone there at Homestead during Andrew. I do know they kept everyone at Andersen during Super Typhoon Paka.

Wow!! Senorpepr, you and my grandfather must think alike! I just got off the phone with him and he says that although it seems stupid and insane, it is better for them to stay on base. He went through a hurricane and stayed on base as well back when he was doing piloting during WWII.

[senorpepr]

The order was made by General Lord of Keesler AFB and his command.

Is he the post commander????? And yet he had the rest of the post evacuate???? Sounds like he is making sure he has "able" bodies to do the clean up..........Do you know if they are in barracks or are they in a shelter of some sort?

Normally they are in the school houses for shelter. I got off the phone with a co-worker who is there for training and she said the weather trainees are in Wolfe Hall (a large reenforced bldg) to ride out the storm.

[senorpepr]

The order was made by General Lord of Keesler AFB and his command.

Is he the post commander????? And yet he had the rest of the post evacuate???? Sounds like he is making sure he has "able" bodies to do the clean up..........Do you know if they are in barracks or are they in a shelter of some sort?

Normally they are in the school houses for shelter. I got off the phone with a co-worker who is there for training and she said the weather trainees are in Wolfe Hall (a large reenforced bldg) to ride out the storm.

[MBismyPlayground]

The "barracks" (now called dorms) at Keesler are not outdated. They were built between 1999-2002.[/quote]


Actually, that could be worse. During this time frame, alot of the building contractors quite the military contracts and then new ones took over, ending up with sub standard building. This has been investigated for some time by the Senate Arms Committee.

[Psychonaut777]

He said specifically that he's in a 3 story classroom. Not concrete. No windows on the floor they are on.

I don't know the exact details. That doesn't seem safe to me at all.

[senorpepr]

The "barracks" (now called dorms) at Keesler are not outdated. They were built between 1999-2002.

Actually, that could be worse. During this time frame, alot of the building contractors quite the military contracts and then new ones took over, ending up with sub standard building. This has been investigated for some time by the Senate Arms Committee.[/quote]

With the time I've spent there in those dorms, it would be my opinion to disagree with you.

[Glen]

Just to clarify the situation at Keesler. The base is an active duty base, a training base under the AETC Command for the Air Force. General Lord is the Base Commander for the active duty. The students, and all facilities fall under him.

The aircraft assigned to Keesler are tenants. They belong to the 403rd Airlift Wing, which is the Air Force Reserve Command. They are C-130's, including the Hurricane Hunter aircraft. That is a command that does not fall under AETC. They are just using the base.

The aircraft do not belong to the base, and they have no control of them. It would also be impossible to transport any number of students on these aircraft. They are modified for weather and do not hold many people in the normal configurations.

The buildings the students are in are mostly new and built very well. However, it was not a smart idea to have them stay there. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this.

[Psychonaut777]

Interesting is an understatment.

Even so, the Airforce has thousands of planes all over the US it wouldn't have been very difficult to airlift them out. This is unneccesary and terrible.