Media images of destitute flood victims in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina generated the impression of an unresponsive federal government. Critics understandably took aim at the mayor, the Louisiana governor, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the President. Some also criticized the Department of Defense as if it had failed to furnish the quick and massive humanitarian relief which the American people had come to expect after a natural disaster. After all, Pentagon resources were stretched thin because of ongoing combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan on the other side of the world. This paper will explore the validity of that impression by focusing on the response of the U.S. Air Force, as part of the larger Department of Defense, to the crisis posed by Hurricane Katrina. The Air Force was involved even before the storm hit. During late August, 2005, the Hurricane Hunters of the 53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (403d Wing) in their WC-130 airplanes tracked and measured Katrina’s intensity and location as it crossed the tip of Florida and grew into a category 5 monster in the Gulf of Mexico. Between August 23 and 29, squadron aircrews flew more than 109 hours tracking the storm. As Katrina approached the central Gulf coast, the squadron dispersed its aircraft, which were based at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, to other bases beyond the projected storm path.