Wisconsin Airman recounts role in Haiti relief mission

Date: June 25, 2010
By Senior Airman Ryan Kuntze
128th Air Refueling Wing

A Wisconsin Air National Guard member returned last month following 71 days supporting the relief effort in Haiti.

Master Sgt. Craig DeLorme, a pest management supervisor with the Milwaukee-based 128th Air Refueling Wing's Civil Engineer Squadron, arrived in Haiti on Feb. 23 - traveling throughout the city of Port-au-Prince during his deployment, visiting military camps and the camps of displaced persons to treat water and manage any infestation problems.

"Me and [my co-worker] visited nine military bases around Haiti, where we assessed their pest infestation," DeLorme said. "We walked around, pointed out problem areas and decided how to handle them."

His co-worker, he said, was an Airman from the Iowa Air National Guard in Sioux Falls.

"I couldn't help them as much as I wanted to," DeLorme said of the displaced persons camps. He said supplies were always in short order, and dirty standing water increased the mosquito problem.

"It was a losing battle," he added. "All I could do was drop mosquito dumps into the water."

The amount of refuse and debris created a breeding ground for pest infestations, he said. Military bases were in a slightly better situation.

"Most of the bases were following what we told them to do," he said. "The bases were set up correctly."

During his time in Haiti, DeLorme said he worked with a variety of military forces, starting with an Air Force civil engineering unit, and then moved on to help the Army and Navy with their pest problems. He also worked with medical groups, kitchen staff members and various inspectors.

"It was truly a joint task force," DeLorme said, adding that he helped the Brazilian relief workers with showers and clean water.

He said there were several obstacles to overcome while he was conducting his mission. MREs were the only food source for the first week of the deployment, communications within the camps suffered difficulties, and people were generally very busy and couldn't provide many answers to questions he posed, he said.

"We did the best we could with what we had," he said. "There weren't a lot of complaints."

Destruction and pest infestations did not encompass all of DeLorme's experiences, though.

He said he took food to orphanages and helped to hand out the items, which were mostly MREs from camp that people donated from their supplies.

"We went to orphanages because they were safe," he explained. "We couldn't give food on the streets because rioting would break out."

By the end of his deployment, DeLorme said the situation had improved, mostly at the military sites.

"There were 15 cases of malaria when we got [to the bases in Haiti]," he said. "There were none when we left."

He said temporary neighborhoods were just getting started when he left Haiti.

DeLorme returned to Wisconsin May 5, and has since resumed his career as a correctional officer in Oshkosh, the city he calls home.