DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - While the Army ordered its Louisiana-based troops to stay and fight in Iraq, the Air Force said Saturday it would send 300 airmen home from Iraq and Afghanistan to handle emergencies on a Mississippi air base devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

The airmen, all based at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., will start flying home during the next two weeks, said Air Force Capt. David Small, spokesman for U.S. Central Command Air Forces in Qatar.

Nearly 100 more airmen scheduled to leave Keesler for war duty also will stay behind, said Brig. Gen. Allen G. Peck, the deputy commander of coalition air forces in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters.

"While our focus remains on fighting the war on terrorism, taking care of people is a top priority," Peck said in a statement. "They can't effectively perform the mission if their heads and hearts are focused on the safety and welfare of their loved ones."

The group includes airmen scheduled to rotate home in September and others whose deployments will be cut short.

Peck, who is based at the U.S.-run al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, said Air Force personnel from other bases will replace those leaving early or being held back.

But U.S. soldiers and Marines in Iraq won't have their deployments cut back.

Army officials in Iraq and Washington have said National Guard troops from Louisiana and elsewhere on the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast will only be granted emergency leave if their family members are dead or injured.

Keesler Air Force Base, just off the beach in the Gulf Coast city of Biloxi, suffered a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina and much of its housing and other infrastructure was wiped out. Small said most personnel and families on the base had been moved to temporary shelters. "Everything was under water," he said.

U.S. authorities want Keesler returned to operation to handle hurricane relief flights, Riley told The Associated Press.

"It's going to be the heart, the pulse of the relief effort," said Riley, a native of Tacoma, Wash. "We've got a vested interest in getting back there and getting things running. That's where our homes are, that's where our families are."