Operation Support Hope was a 1994 United States military effort to provide immediate relief for the refugees of the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

and allow a smooth transition to a full United Nations humanitarian management program. The inhabitants of the camp consisted of approximately two million

Hutus The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the prin ...

, participants in the genocide, and the bystanders, who had fled Rwanda as the predominantly

Tutsi The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic grou ...

Rwandan Patriotic Front The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi, french: Front patriotique rwandais, FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame, the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces, winn ...

took control of the country. On July 22, 1994 President

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...

announced Operation Support Hope. Two days later, American joint task forces were airlifted to Goma, Zaire;

Kigali, Rwanda Kigali () is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwanda's economic, cu ...

; Entebbe, Uganda; and

Mombasa, Kenya Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

. U.S. Air Force liaison officers were assigned to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

) air operations cell in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

and assigned to joint logistics cells and civil-military operations centers in the field. The joint task force was headquartered in Entebbe, with the role of providing a cargo airlift to supplement United Nations efforts. The

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

almost immediately set up a major water supply system at the refugee camp in Goma and helped bury the dead. Relief supplies were flown from Europe directly to African locations by C-5 and C-141 cargo jets, which then ferried to Mombasa due to scarcity of fuel in the African interior, and then returned to Europe. Due to limited ramp space, some aircraft were forced into holding patterns; their fuel requirements were met by KC-10 tanker aircraft based at

Harare, Zimbabwe Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

. C-130 aircraft from

Ramstein Air Base Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also ...

, Germany and Pope Air Force Base, NC deployed to Entebbe, Uganda and shuttled relief cargo, US Army water filtration systems, and medical teams from Doctors Without Borders to remote locations throughout the region. During the peak of Operation Support Hope in late August, the United States had 2350 service members deployed. About 15,000 tons of humanitarian supplies were delivered by 1200 airlift sorties, about 60% of the total airlift tonnage. On August 14, the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

(UNHCR) requested that all agencies stop airlifting food to Goma. The operation continued supporting other locations in Rwanda. By presidential order, it ceased on September 27 and the last C-5 involved in the airlift left Entebbe on September 29. During operations a C-5 flew a record 22-hour flight nonstop from Travis Air Force Base, California to Goma to deliver a water supply system, supported by 3 aerial refuelings.AIRLIFT TANKER QUARTERLY Volume 12 • Number 3 • Summer 2004
/ref>

References

External links

Summary - Report to Congress on U.S. Military Activities in Rwanda, 1994 - August 1997
by the Department of Defense {{Authority control Support Hope Humanitarian aid Rwandan genocide 1994 in Zaire

See also

References

External links