Reflections of a Retired Baby Boomer
Topic: Haiti: U.S. Military Contributions
While watching the excellent media coverage of the Haitian earthquake last night, I noticed that many people are beginning to wonder why it was taking so long for U.S. military units and other nations and relief groups involved in the effort to provide help to the areas most affected by the disaster. The reasoning appeared to go along the lines, if members of the press can roam around the affected areas at will, why can’t the military and relief workers do the same?
According to United States Southern Command (Southcom), they have established Joint Task Force Haiti commanded by Lieutenant General Ken Keen, U.S. Army, to head up the effort. U.S. forces will be working with the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), international relief organizations and local first responders. There are currently about 6,000 U.S. military personnel operating both from within Haiti and from U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels located off shore. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff says by Monday the numbers will be somewhere in between 9,000 to 10,000. In addition, one of the Navy’s hospital ships, the USNS Comfort is scheduled to arrive on scene Thursday. According to a Southcom press release, “Comfort’s capabilities include fully-equipped operating rooms, digital radiological services, a medial laboratory, a pharmacy, an optometry lab, a CAT-scan and two oxygen producing plants. The ships medical crew will be capable of operating 250 hospital beds.” The aircraft carrier and other ships scheduled to arrive and participate in the operation also have significant medical capabilities.
The Naval units supporting the effort include the formidable the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group which arrived on scene yesterday. I think the hope of many was once the aircraft carrier arrived and relief supplies were being flown into the airport things would start to improve immediately. So what’s the hold up? Answer: Infrastructure, coordination, and security.
Infrastructure: What infrastructure there was collapsed with Tuesday’s earthquake. Roads are blocked and/or destroyed, communications are spotty, the airport is struggling to keep up with all of the relief aircraft flying in from various locations around the world; and the sea port is badly damaged. All of this makes it difficult to move supplies in by land or sea. Aid groups don’t yet have the means to distribute the massive aid that is piling up at the airport, and have no one in place to receive and distribute the supplies or water once they arrive. The military has been reluctant to drop supplies and water from the air without someone in place on the ground for fear of rioting.
The good news is setting up infrastructures is one of the things the military does best. As I sit here typing this blog, the military is making efforts to correct the situation. A Southcom press release states: “With agreement from the government of Haiti, U.S. Air Force personnel are managing air operations into the international airport at port au Prince. The airfield is currently open for 24 hour operations, with a 90 aircraft per day capability (expected to increase soon). The military is also flying manned and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to assist to help identify landing zones for relief helicopters and identifying the hardest hit areas so they can determine where to set supply centers.
In terms of more pressing infrastructure issues like providing medical help, food, water, and shelter, the military is renowned for setting up systems to cover all of those items in short periods of time. For those suffering in Haiti, I’m sure the help can’t come soon enough.
Coordination: Yesterday Rear Admiral Ted Branch, Commander of the Carl Vinson Strike Group indicated coordination problems among military operations and humanitarian agencies “hasn’t come as far as it needs to be. We need to get that process energized.” This is a far more complex process than it would appear. It’s not just the U.S. that’s involved but many other countries as well. The last number I heard of countries providing aid was 18 and I’m sure it’s gone up. All of the organizations have to talk to each other and stay on the same page and communication frequencies to set up an efficient system. That involves setting up central points of contacts for storing and moving the supplies as well as providing security personnel for crowd control and many other issues. In many international disaster relief efforts the UN is usually in charge of coordination efforts but in this instance many of their workers were killed in the earthquake so the coordination effort is more challenging than normal with operations of this kind.
Security: Security is actually a multi-layered thing. It includes protecting the population from people who might take advantage of the situation by looting or stealing food and water from others. It also involves setting up efficient and orderly distribution systems. In the larger scheme countries taking part in the effort always have to keep in mind they are guests in a foreign nation and are there on a relief mission. You don’t want to get into a situation where elements of the local population turn hostile. Many remember the “Black Hawk Down” situation, where members of the Somalia militia shot down U.S. helicopters; but most forget U.S. troops where there as part of a United Nations international relief effort.
In 1992, Somalia had been experiencing massive starvation as a result of a many sided civil war. The U.S. was part of a massive international relief effort. Relief efforts were hampered when the distribution system broke down. There were many instances of relief flights being looted when they landed, hijacking of food convoys and ships prevented from docking by artillery attacks. By December of that year, over 250,000 people had starved to death and the death rate continued to climb by more than 1,000 estimated deaths each day. In response and under UN Security Council Resolution 794, President Bush sent U.S. troops to participate in order to provide security for the relief convoys and relief organizations.
I don’t believe the security situation in Haiti will be as extreme or violent as that experienced in Somalia in the early ‘90’s but security is one of planning issues that has to be dealt with for the success of the effort. The U.S. is being careful to emphasize are military units are there for relief efforts only and are working closely with the Haitian government.
I’m as horrified and frustrated as many people are at the sight of people dying because no help was available. It brings back unpleasant memories of Hurricane Katrina; but I also am comforted by knowing how efficient and capable the U.S. military is during humanitarian assistance operations. I would have liked to have seen massive international aid available and helping the people of Haiti on the day of the earthquake but the realities of dealing with a disaster of that magnitude did not make it possible. As always, my thoughts are my own.
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