Joint Task Force - Leeward Islands begins evacuation of U.S. citizens in Dominica
U.S. Sailors with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22, supporting Joint Task Force - Leeward Islands , escort U.S. citizens to the evacuation control center at Douglas-Charles Airport in Dominica, Sept. 24, 2017. The control center was set up to assist in the voluntary evacuation of U.S. citizens stranded on Dominica after Hurricane Maria. At the request of partner nations and both the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development, JTF-LI has deployed aircraft and service members to areas in the eastern Caribbean Sea affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria. The task force is a U.S. military unit composed of Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen, and represents U.S. Southern Command’s primary response to both disasters. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ian Leones)