Normally I work in the Public Affairs Office for our Brigade, but today I got loaned out to the Public Affiars Office for the whole post. They've been swamped due to the events in the region.

It was different. I escorted a reporter from a local newspaper as we
They paint a somewhat different picture that the media has been painting about the efforts in New Orleans.

I don't remember the exact stat they told me, but the amount of hours these pilots were logging in was crazy.

It was interesting. They were talking about how there were different helicopters from many different branches filling up the airspace in New Orleans.

Something to think about, most of these pilots don't normally land on rooftops to rescue people. The Army pilots are more used to landing in open fields.

They also spoke of how they were only able to fly in the day because of no lighting in the area or on their crafts, plus their need to rest themselives. There was a great deal of debris and powerlines as well to contend with.

The pilots said something that stuck with me, they said, "I haven't seen so many aircraft operating in specific area as such a cohesive unit." It makes you realize that in some regards, only so many aircraft can occupy a certain airspace at a time.

They also spoke of how many of the people there, really had no idea how bad things are there. When they rescued people and were flying over New Orleans, they said many people began to cry because they just didn't know how bad it was. They also spoke of how they weren't just there to rescue the people, but were there in some instances to console these people in that moment that they had fully seen the amount devasation.

It seems consistent with what seemed like confusion on the ground. A lot of people were not getting the up to date info we all are privy to on the news. THere were cases where the pilots had to tell the people they were rescuing that if they didn't take their help, they'd likely die.

It is such a time tested truth that communication holds the key for so many things. When communication is disrupted on such a scale in this disaster, it leads to such difficulties.

This whole New Orleans ordeal has so many angles and so many stories