RED HORSE port team equips New Horizons Panama mission for success

by Tech. Sgt. Eric Petosky
New Horizons Panama 2010 Public Affairs

6/21/2010 - PANAMA CITY, Panama (AFNS) -- A 12-person logistics support team moved more than 200 pieces of cargo 250 kilometers (more than 155 miles) from the port in Panama City to Meteti for New Horizons Panama 2010.

The team, a division of the RED HORSE contingent deploying to Panama for New Horizons, arrived May 11, and worked furiously to get the cargo off the ship, through customs and onto trucks ready to depart.

The cargo included almost everything the New Horizons team will need to complete the 12-week, $8.5 million humanitarian assistance mission. Heavy machinery and construction equipment, as well as a multitude of 20-foot containers carrying everything from food to concertina wire, were loaded and transported to the temporary encampment that will house more than 250 Airmen, Soldiers and Marines during New Horizons.

This is the second New Horizons mission for Senior Master Sgt. Rosanne Keys, the readiness superintendent for the 820th RED HORSE Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Sergeant Keys also supported New Horizons Peru in 2008.

"This is the type of deployment our squadron is built for," she said. "We got everything out of the port smoothly and staged the cargo at the old Howard Air Force Base. From there, we loaded up the trucks, and contractors delivered them to Meteti."

New Horizons Panama 2010 includes six major construction projects at four schools and two clinics in the vicinity of Meteti, located in the Darien region of Panama. The exercise also includes five medical readiness training exercises in the area of David, Chitre and Veraguas.

"This is a great mission," said 1st Lt. Brigette Pirrung, an operations officer with the 315th Logistics Readiness Flight at Joint Base Charleston, S.C. "I'm excited to be a part of New Horizons. It definitely provides a well-rounded experience and on-the-job training, but more importantly, we get to see a positive end result. What we do to help the Panamanian people is a lasting legacy, one that I hope will be an example for others."

Now that the cargo is delivered, the port team will focus on camp sustainment within the tent city, including fuels, vehicle maintenance and supply. After the mission ends in September, the team will redeploy all the cargo back to home station.