title: The US Air Force Aerial Spray Unit: a history of large area disease vector control operations, WWII through Katrina.
abstract: The US Air Force has had a long history of aerial applications of pesticides to fulfill a variety of missions, the most important being the protection of troops through the minimization of arthropod vectors capable of disease transmission. Beginning in World War II, aerial application of pesticides by the military has effectively controlled vector and nuisance pest populations in a variety of environments. Currently, the military aerial spray capability resides in the US Air Force Reserve (USAFR), which operates and maintains C-130 airplanes capable of a variety of missions, including ultra low volume applications for vector and nuisance pests, as well as higher volume aerial applications of herbicides and oil-spill dispersants. The USAFR aerial spray assets are the only such fixed-wing aerial spray assets within the Department of Defense. In addition to troop protection, the USAFR Aerial Spray Unit has participated in a number of humanitarian/relief missions, most recently in the response to the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which heavily damaged the Gulf Coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. This article provides historical background on the Air Force Aerial Spray Unit and describes the operations in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
authors.affiliation: Air Force Aerial Spray Unit, 757 Airlift Squadron, 910th Airlift Wing, USAFR, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Vienna, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Breidenbaugh
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Haagsma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055867:Cyclonic Storms / Q000266:history; D004190:Disasters / Q000266:history; D004199:Disease Vectors; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007306:Insecticides / Q000266:history / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000266:history*; D009032:Mosquito Control / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods; D012066:Relief Work / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States; D047789:World War II
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides