From: bergman@AFPAN.PA.AF.MIL (CMSgt Mike Bergman)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: USAF Feature Package 1
Date: 27 Jul 92 13:30:26 GMT
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC

Posted by request:


001.  Operation Provide Hope
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Note to editors:  This AFNS feature article is intended to supplement coverage 
provided by AFNS and Art and Features.  Effective in April, all news features 
will be moved by message and bulletin board only.  Line art and photos will 
continue to be mailed in printed format, but on an as needed basis.
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001.  Operation Provide Hope
by TSgt. Louis A. Arana-Barradas
AFNS Features
     YEREVAN, Armenia -- Making sure Operation Provide Hope food and medical 
supplies reach the needy people of the Commonwealth of Independent States can 
be a frustrating chore.  But it's one job Tom Kasparian and others have 
volunteered to do with no regrets -- and without pay.
     Part of a group sponsored by the Armenian Church of America, Kasparian 
and a team of five others are in Yerevan to ensure the proper distribution of 
American relief goods.
     He first went to Armenia in January, where he helped distribute food sent 
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Now the social service worker is 
helping with Provide Hope.
     "We're helping distribute food to hospitals -- making sure it's going 
where it's supposed to be going," the New Milford, N.J., native said.  He 
arrived at Yerevan early in the morning before the C-5 Galaxy landed and had 
only a couple of hours of sleep before he met the plane.
     Team members, mostly Armenian-Americans, also ensure the people who 
receive the food know how to use it properly.  "We translate the directions 
too," said Kasparian.
     Though most team members don't speak Armenian, Kasparian said problems 
distributing food have been few.  "Occasionally there are communications 
glitches, but not really problems," he said.  "But, we're making sure the food 
is getting to those who need it."
     Kasparian said food distribution operations have gotten "a lot more 
organized" with practice.
     On the Valentine's Day flight Kasparian met, members of the 4th Mobile 
Airlift Support Squadron at Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, unloaded the C-5 
flown by an aircrew from the 31st Airlift Squadron, Dover Air Force Base, Del.
     Hundreds of Armenian onlookers, Russian soldiers and a rag-tag fleet of 
trucks of all descriptions met the relief flight.  No fences surround the 
Yerevan airport and there were no security guards.
     "When people find out, by word of mouth, that a relief flight is 
arriving, they come for the spectacle," Kasparian said.  "But some come to see 
what they might get, or rip off, I'll admit that."
     However, no food was stolen at the Yerevan airport that day.  "We make 
sure the food goes straight into a truck and to the hospital.  We make sure it 
doesn't go to a warehouse."
     How is the aid being received?  Kasparian's excitement was unchecked when 
he said, "It was incredible.  We went to some hospitals where the 
administrators showed us their empty storerooms.  Most didn't know how they 
were going to feed their patients until we arrived.  With one pallet of food 
they told us they could feed all their patients for two weeks.
     "They were praising God -- they were just amazed -- so thankful," he 
said.
     Kasparian said the Armenians know the food was coming from the United 
States. "They are just astonished that we have food to give.
     The job Kasparian and his team is doing is a labor of love.  He said he's
doing it because he's Armenian and wants to help.  "Though the United States 
is my homeland, coming to Armenia is like a huge family reunion with people I 
don't even know."
     And there's camaraderie.  "The people don't even know who I am," he said. 
 "But they know I'm Armenian and they know I'm from America and they open up 
their arms and homes to me.
     "They don't have much to give, but they give it all."  (Sergeant 
Arana-Barradas is assigned to Detachment 1, Joint Information Bureau)

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