'It Will Be Years' Before Tyndall Air Force Base Returns To Normal: NPR

Jillian Arrowood, Tyndall Air Force Base on October 8th, 2011, Author:, Categories: Uncategorized William, her son, and her father in-law, an army withdrawn who had recently had a stroke, in their new home by the water.

Her 12-year old daughter did not have a bathing suit, but was so excited that she jumped into the water with her clothes on. It felt like a perfect day: 85 degrees, sunny, and slightly breezy. There was no indication of bad weather that was headed their way.

Tyndall received evacuation orders. Tyndall received evacuation orders. Less than six hours after Jillian and her daughters arrived on base, the Arrowood family was packing up to leave, and have not been back since.

They are one of hundreds of military families who have been relocated from Tyndall Air Force base as a result of Hurricane Michael. The eye of the Category 4 storm cut straight through the base on Wednesday, October 10, causing catastrophic destruction. The storm reduced houses to splinters, blew off roofs, and busted open sheds where top-grade aircraft such as F-22 planes were housed.

In total, Brig. Gen. Edward Thomas, the Air Force Director of Public Affairs, estimated that there were over 860 housing units on the base, and about 11,000 airmen and their families assigned there.

He likened the damage to that seen on the Keesler Air Force base after Hurricane Katrina. He used Keesler as a comparison when estimating how long restorations would take.

"I think it would be fair to say it will be to make Tyndall look like it did before the hurricane hit," he said at a Tyndall press conference this week.

While resumption of training missions, it is possible to return to normal living. Those who have been displaced from Tyndall are stuck in limbo, uncertain of what will happen next.

Air Force members wait for orders

For some, the uncertainty lies in whether they will be reassigned and relocated. Reagan Gray's husband, Zack Gray, is the first stealth fighter in the world – each with a roughly $ 110 million flyaway cost, before any upgrades and software are added.

Tyndall was home to about 55 out of total 187 F-22s in the US fleet. Some were flown to Wright-Patterson's Air Force Base in Ohio, but the Air Force refused to leave many behind.

Because there are so few F-22s, and so few bases that house them, Gray is reluctant to be relocated to another base. She said she knows where to go.

For now, Gray has taken refuge with her two-year-old daughter at her parents' home in Pensacola while she waits to see whether her husband will be home to help with the transition.

Maj. Gen. Andrew Toth, the commander of Air Force's personal center, said that these situations are being handled on a case-by-case basis.

They are asking for each other, "Do you need to come back to Tyndall to take care of your family?" Toth said.

Gray said the worst part is not knowing.

"It's just going up in the air," she said in a conversation phone. "They are not really giving anybody any information."

But she hates the uncertainty of Air Force orders, Gray considers herself among the lucky ones.

The Air Force opened up Tyndall for the first time this week. She has renter's insurance for her property. She received financial assistance from the Air Force through a Stabilizing Grant Assistance. The air force is offering airs, so retired, active duty, or in the reserves, to help cover. The grants are $ 750 for single airmen, and $ 1,500 for those with families.

Military withdrawes struggle to get assistance

The Arrowood family has none of that.

They're taking refuge about 1,000 miles away, at their old house in Akron, Ohio. The short time notice given to them on the basis of the beginning of this week. The only knowledge they have of their home from aerial photos showing that part of their roof is gone.

They have no renter's insurance, since Jillian's husband, father-in-law, and nine-year old had just moved into the home in September. They are also currently not able to get assistance from FEMA or the Air Force.

"My biggest frustration is that my father-in-law is not getting used to it because he's not getting Air Force," Jillian said in a conversation. "We all serve under the same flag."

Her father-in-law, Marvin Arrowood, first served in Vietnam under the draft. Then he re-enlisted to the Army in the 1980s.

While the Air Force is offering Stabilizing Assistance Grants to airmen, whether retired, active duty, or in the reserves, the same aid and benefits are not being given to military members in other branches who had been living on Tyndall.

Instead, assistance for Air-Force withdrawn has been left to the discretion of each military branch. When the Arrowoods contacted the Army for assistance, they were not given help.

"The only options we have are loans," Jillian said. "We can not keep pooling loans."

The Arrowoods are also not able to get help from them until they make an appointment to their home with an inspector. The complication is that they are not likely to go to Tyndall this week when it's time to re-open, and do not know when to base it again. A FEMA spokesman confirmed that claims can not be processed until an inspector is able to look at the house with someone present.

Hoping to go home

William Arrowood, Jillian's husband, Marvin Arrowood, gets each month. Jillian has been re-enrolled in local schools, she is eager and hopeful she will be able to transfer to schools near Tyndall soon.

"I want to be able to go back home," she said. "The biggest fear is not enough to go back on base."

Finding Tyndall seemed like a miracle to Jillian – it was a safe, safe environment for her children; it was suggested to him to be a doctor, and he allowed him to join the military community and get support.

As a member of the Ohio National Guard, Jillian said that going to Tyndall was an emotional homecoming. She had planned to re-enlist with the Air Force.

Though retired, Dana Voelker, wife of retired Marine, Randall Voelker, estimates that they are still a sizable portion of the population base. The Air Force has not responded to inquiries about Tyndall's population.

Voelker was full of questions as she spoke on the phone while on the way to retrieve her things from Tyndall this week.

"What do you take out? Where do you go?" she asked. "We have nobody."

Lacking family to stay with, the Voelkers have been staying in the Holiday Inn Express on Fort Rucker in Alabama, shelling out $ 80 a night as they wait to see what happens with their home on Tyndall.

"The house is not livable," she said. "What if they were us out, we are literally homeless."

Luckily, the Voelker's request for assistance from the Army was approved, and they received a $ 600 grant. They are also able to have their FEMA application processed, since they have completed an inspection with an agent when they returned this week.

But, they can not afford to live in limbo much longer. Dana says they are currently living off of their credit card, adding to the debt they had already had before the storm.

If unable to return to Tyndall and not given an alternative home, she does not know what they will do next.

The Air Force plans for the future

Information is limited to the Air Force. The much inquired-about F-22s are currently being evaluated by engineers to see what type of damage they sustained.

"Visually all of the aircraft are intact." Gen. Edward Thomas said. "Certainly some of them are going to be fine." They'll all fly again. " One military source told NPR, however, that a few F-22s do have significant damage.

In terms of what will happen to Tyndall residents, the path forward is more obscure.

"We're going to make some serious decisions on which families are going to be decided on where they're going," Thomas said. "And then they will have anything to do with their tenure that they can not get rid of."

As airmen work to repair the base, it's unclear just how many will be sticking around.

"Morale is high, uncertainty is also high," he said.