Kentucky Air Guard joins with Army Rapid Port Opening Element for U.S. Transportation Command earthquake-response exercise

Col. Mark Heiniger, commander of the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group, greets Maj. Gen. Barbara Faulkenberry, vice commander of 18th Air Force, on the flight line of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Ill., on Aug. 7, 2013, during Exercise Gateway Relief, a U.S. Transportation Command-directed earthquake-response scenario. The 123rd is teaming up with the U.S. Army’s 689th Rapid Port Opening Element from Fort Eustis, Va., through Aug. 9 to operate a Joint Task Force-Port Opening. The JTF-PO combines an Air Force Aerial Port of Debarkation with an Army trucking and distribution unit to ensure the smooth flow of relief supplies into disaster areas by airlift and coordinate final distribution over land. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer)