Eutrusca
09-01-2005, 00:51
U.S. Prepares To Send More Aid
Associated Press
January 5, 2005
WASHINGTON - The U.S. military, one week into its largest humanitarian relief mission in decades, is preparing to send more helicopters and medical help to tsunami survivors.
Navy Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of the Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command, told a Pentagon news conference Tuesday that about 45 U.S. helicopters are now involved in the relief mission, dubbed Operation United Assistance. That number probably will double soon, he told reporters.
In all, about 13,000 U.S. military personnel are involved in the relief effort, including about 11,600 aboard ships and about 1,000 in Thailand, where an air base is serving as the U.S. command center. There also are U.S. military personnel in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia.
In a separate news conference, William Winkenwerder, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said the military is prepared to send as many as eight portable hospitals, including a 25-bed version that could be flown aboard two C-17 cargo planes from Yokota air base in Japan.
The military also is prepared to send mortuary teams to help deal with recovered human remains, he said.
Two 10-person teams of military and civilian forensics specialists have already been sent from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii to assist in recovering, sorting and identifying remains. Winkenwerder said an additional 100 or so forensics specialists would be sent.
He said the Defense Department is coordinating with other government agencies and with the United Nations and World Health Organization to determine what additional medical assistance is needed. He cited the vulnerability of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Indonesia and other countries hit by the earthquake and resulting tsunami on Dec. 26.
"All of this creates a breeding ground for disease and for epidemics, and we're concerned about the possibility of that," Winkenwerder said. Cholera, hepatitis A and other waterborne infectious diseases are threats, he said, as are measles and malaria.
Fargo said helicopters, capable of flying from aboard ships or from land bases and able to operate around the clock from austere landing strips, are especially useful in relief operations.
"Helicopters are a tremendous advantage, because, of course, they don't have the same restrictions as fixed-wing aircraft in terms of how many you can have on the ground at a time," he said.
There are 17 helicopters aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is operating off the coast of Sumatra. Twenty-five more helicopters are aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship that began flight operations off Sumatra on Tuesday.
There also are four land-based U.S. helicopters operating in the area, and Fargo said the USS Fort McHenry, with six CH-46 medium-lift helicopters, is headed to the area from Okinawa.
A combat supply ship, the USNS Niagara Falls, is also headed to the area from Guam with helicopters, Fargo said, and the government of Singapore plans to send additional helicopters.
Fargo said preparations are under way to deploy the USNS Mercy, a 1,000-bed hospital ship based at San Diego. He said a final decision on its readiness has not been made, but it has been on sea trials this week "to make sure that she's ready to go." Other defense officials said the Mercy has been loading and taking on fuel in preparation to leave before the end of the week.
Officials are working on an "imaginative way" to deploy the Mercy, Fargo said.
"You know that these hospital ships were normally used for trauma in combat, but we think that there may be an opportunity to configure the Mercy with a humanitarian assistance crew that might be staffed significantly by nongovernmental organizations," the admiral said.
James Lyons, a retired four-star Navy admiral and a former commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, said in an interview Tuesday that Project HOPE, the humanitarian health group, was interested in providing medical staff for the Mercy. He said he has been a volunteer liaison for Project HOPE and was told the hospital ship is "all ready to go" and awaiting a formal deployment order.
Dr. John Howe III, the president of Project HOPE, said in an interview that his organization operated the SS Hope, a donated former Navy hospital ship, from 1960 to 1974 in Indonesia and elsewhere, and would "welcome the opportunity to relive history" and return to that region aboard the Mercy.
Associated Press
January 5, 2005
WASHINGTON - The U.S. military, one week into its largest humanitarian relief mission in decades, is preparing to send more helicopters and medical help to tsunami survivors.
Navy Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of the Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command, told a Pentagon news conference Tuesday that about 45 U.S. helicopters are now involved in the relief mission, dubbed Operation United Assistance. That number probably will double soon, he told reporters.
In all, about 13,000 U.S. military personnel are involved in the relief effort, including about 11,600 aboard ships and about 1,000 in Thailand, where an air base is serving as the U.S. command center. There also are U.S. military personnel in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia.
In a separate news conference, William Winkenwerder, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said the military is prepared to send as many as eight portable hospitals, including a 25-bed version that could be flown aboard two C-17 cargo planes from Yokota air base in Japan.
The military also is prepared to send mortuary teams to help deal with recovered human remains, he said.
Two 10-person teams of military and civilian forensics specialists have already been sent from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii to assist in recovering, sorting and identifying remains. Winkenwerder said an additional 100 or so forensics specialists would be sent.
He said the Defense Department is coordinating with other government agencies and with the United Nations and World Health Organization to determine what additional medical assistance is needed. He cited the vulnerability of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Indonesia and other countries hit by the earthquake and resulting tsunami on Dec. 26.
"All of this creates a breeding ground for disease and for epidemics, and we're concerned about the possibility of that," Winkenwerder said. Cholera, hepatitis A and other waterborne infectious diseases are threats, he said, as are measles and malaria.
Fargo said helicopters, capable of flying from aboard ships or from land bases and able to operate around the clock from austere landing strips, are especially useful in relief operations.
"Helicopters are a tremendous advantage, because, of course, they don't have the same restrictions as fixed-wing aircraft in terms of how many you can have on the ground at a time," he said.
There are 17 helicopters aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is operating off the coast of Sumatra. Twenty-five more helicopters are aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship that began flight operations off Sumatra on Tuesday.
There also are four land-based U.S. helicopters operating in the area, and Fargo said the USS Fort McHenry, with six CH-46 medium-lift helicopters, is headed to the area from Okinawa.
A combat supply ship, the USNS Niagara Falls, is also headed to the area from Guam with helicopters, Fargo said, and the government of Singapore plans to send additional helicopters.
Fargo said preparations are under way to deploy the USNS Mercy, a 1,000-bed hospital ship based at San Diego. He said a final decision on its readiness has not been made, but it has been on sea trials this week "to make sure that she's ready to go." Other defense officials said the Mercy has been loading and taking on fuel in preparation to leave before the end of the week.
Officials are working on an "imaginative way" to deploy the Mercy, Fargo said.
"You know that these hospital ships were normally used for trauma in combat, but we think that there may be an opportunity to configure the Mercy with a humanitarian assistance crew that might be staffed significantly by nongovernmental organizations," the admiral said.
James Lyons, a retired four-star Navy admiral and a former commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, said in an interview Tuesday that Project HOPE, the humanitarian health group, was interested in providing medical staff for the Mercy. He said he has been a volunteer liaison for Project HOPE and was told the hospital ship is "all ready to go" and awaiting a formal deployment order.
Dr. John Howe III, the president of Project HOPE, said in an interview that his organization operated the SS Hope, a donated former Navy hospital ship, from 1960 to 1974 in Indonesia and elsewhere, and would "welcome the opportunity to relive history" and return to that region aboard the Mercy.