07 August 1998
(Readying resources in Germany and Saudi Arabia) (260) By Jacquelyn S. Porth USIA Security Affairs Writer WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military on August 7 dispatched aircraft with medical personnel and security experts to assist victims of twin explosions at U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. A U.S. military C-141 Starlifter cargo aircraft at Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany, loaded with medical supplies and blood products, was the first to take off for Nairobi. This team will determine if medical evacuations will be needed. U.S. military medical personnel in Germany are on alert to treat bomb blast victims if there should be an influx of evacuees. Additional Air Force medical teams are also ready to fly out of Germany if their services are needed at the blast scenes. Another aircraft, a C-9 Nightingale medical transport aircraft, remained on alert August 7 at Ramstein to deliver medical supplies and some support personnel to Tanzania. The Air Force's Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois also had a C-130 Hercules aircraft available to fly to Kenya from Prince Sultan Air Base in al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, with 12 medical personnel. The effort to assist these two East African nations involves coordination across two U.S. military command structures because Tanzania falls under the area of responsibility for the U.S. European Command in Ramstein, Germany, while the U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, oversees humanitarian assistance destined for Kenya.