The plume of ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruptions has been a nightmare for commercial airlines, forcing massive flight cancellations and stranding thousands of travelers. But it also appears to have had a quiet impact on military operations as well.
Late last week, the Air Force grounded aircraft at Royal Air Force Lakenheath and Royal Air Force Mildenhall, air bases in the United Kingdom. As of today, mail service there is still delayed. And the Air Force is also being forced to re-route crucial flights to avoid the cloud of ash over northern Europe.
According to an Air Force news item published today, Air Mobility Command's 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center has shifted aircraft, crews, and maintenance personnel from bases in Germany to more southern staging locations in Spain. Medical evacuation missions into and out of the Middle East and Central Asia have also been re-routed: Instead of moving casualties from Afghanistan or Iraq to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, patients are being flown directly to the United States, lenghty flights that may require several in-air refuelings.
In this photo, Air Force airmen are shown unloading a patient from a bus for transfer to the Air Force Theater Hospital at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. According to the photo caption, the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group at Balad is expecting the average patient load at Balad to increase by about 50 patients per day because of the shift in operations.
Military aircraft may also have been damaged by the cloud of volcanic ash. Tiny particles of rock, glass and sand forced into the atmosphere by the volcanic eruption can jam aircraft engines; according to the Associated Press, several NATO F-16 fighters flew through volcanic ash, and one suffered engine damage. AP, quoting an official of the European air traffic agency, said the damaged aircraft belonged to the Belgian Air Force.
[PHOTO: U.S. Department of Defense]
