Despite power outage, key U.S. air base in Japan supports rescue operations

With limited power and communications capability in frigid temperatures, Misawa Air Base in northeast Japan has been serving as the hub for search-and-rescue teams that arrived Sunday.

Blog postings and command press releases depict a community struggling to survive without modern conveniences, but well-aware of the destruction and devastation that surrounds the base.

Lack of power had a cascading effect on the base, shutting down commercial Internet service provided by Verizon, degrading service on the Defense Switched Network used for voice calls, knocking out pumps at the gas station and lights in the commissary.

At times, communications systems on the base failed so completely that the best source of information was an old-fashioned AM radio station, the local affiliate of the Armed Forces Network, though it too experienced intermittent power outages.

While dealing with these problems, Misawa also had to host -- and then transport to nearby cities -- urban search-and-rescue teams, including units from Fairfax County, Va., and the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which arrived yesterday.

Limited power from the electric grid was restored to the base Sunday, including family housing units, Col. Al Wimmer, commander of the 35 Fighter Wing, said in a blog post. But, he added, "Everything else you see with lights on, with the exception of the [base exchange] and commissary, is being powered by generators [and] backup power sources." This includes the base gas station, Wimmer said, which can once again run its pumps, thanks to generators flown to the base.

Power remains limited, however, which means the base must use it for mission and community-essential requirements until the country's strapped electric grid can supply more juice, Wimmer added.

The base and its personnel need to be focused on relief and rescue missions, he said, and reminded the Misawa community "We've been truly lucky in this event. So many other people out there have been much less fortunate than us and we're going to do everything we can to help them out."