Heading home to McChord late last week after flying a mission to Afghanistan, Capt. Rick Kind and his C-17 Globemaster III aircrew received a sudden change of plans.

The 4th Airlift Squadron aircrew was rerouted to McGuire Air Force Base, N.J. to help play a key role in supporting Operation Unified Response, a U.S. Southern Command-led humanitarian effort directly helping the Haitian people in the wake of the Jan. 12 7.0 magnitude earthquake which ravaged the Caribbean nation, leaving thousands dead and many more homeless.

"We got the message and we were very excited and honored to be able to help," said Kind, the aircraft commander.

The airmen - part of the first McChord-based aircrew that received a humanitarian mission to Haiti - left McGuire headed for New York, where they picked up an urban search and rescue task force and all its equipment. The load included five heavy-duty pickup trucks equipped with devices to help locate any survivors buried in the rubble, a forklift, four K-9 teams as well as other equipment and 36 passengers.

Despite the contents of the load varying widely from the normal equipment the crew was used to, they made it work, said Tech. Sgt. Mark Hafer, the loadmaster on the flight.

"We maximized nearly every inch of that aircraft," Hafer said.

When the C-17 reached Haiti airspace on Saturday, that's when the wide-ranging impact of the disaster hit home with the airmen.

"It was a very busy airspace and a very tight (runway)," Kind said. "There were so many aircraft on the ground and people everywhere."

Haiti's Toussaint L' Ouverture International Airport is currently handling nearly 170 flights per day with U.S. Air Force personnel manning the flight tower, up from the normal three flights prior to the earthquake, he said.

"It was absolutely incredible to see all the different aircraft moving in and out," said Capt. Lindsey Jackson, a pilot on the mission.

It was much of the same story on the ground once the aircraft was ready to be unloaded.

"It was controlled chaos," said Hafer, no stranger to the commotion after assisting on humanitarian flights during Hurricane Katrina and the Indonesian tsunami disaster. "Everybody on the ground had a job to do and they did it. To see all the countries involved and working together was pretty intense."

The aircraft was quickly unloaded and prepared for nearly 200 refugees to be flown back to Orlando for medical support.

"There was definitely a strong sense of urgency," Jackson said. "(Everyone on the ground) did an excellent job of unloading and loading."

Hafer watched as young children and senior citizens, as well as those who were healthy and those needing medical care boarded the C-17 for the trip back to the U.S.

"Some had a suitcase, others had just the clothes on their backs," he said. "They were all very appreciative that the U.S. was there to help them."

As soon as the C-17s wheels touched down on the runway in Orlando and the pilot welcomed them to the U.S., the celebration started.

"Every one of them started cheering and clapping," Hafer said. "There were a lot of handshakes and hugs. It was a very rewarding mission."

Transportation Security Administration workers and customs agents welcomed the flight at the airport and helped transport passengers to the several aid agencies on hand to assist.

"We were the first return flight into Orlando, and they really brought out the red carpet for us," Kind said.

Kind's aircrew was just one piece of the support effort out of McChord. On Sunday, McChord airmen launched three C-17s to pick-up specialized teams and relief supplies from Langley AFB, Va., Pope AFB, N.C., and Charleston AFB, S.C., for rapid airlift to Haiti.

A fourth aircraft was dispatched Monday, departing for Pope to take on specialized teams and relief supplies for immediate transport into Haiti.