[MilCom] [Fwd: Pacific Command Rallies Tsunami Relief Resources]

Wed Dec 29 16:21:16 EST 2004

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Pacific Command Rallies Tsunami Relief Resources
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 15:54:01 -0500
From: Press Service <afisnews_sender at DTIC.MIL>
Reply-To: defense-press-service-l-request at DTIC.MIL
To: DEFENSE-PRESS-SERVICE-L at DTIC.MIL

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2004 -- Three Marine Corps disaster relief assessment teams
are on the ground or about to arrive in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and
at least two P-3 aircraft are conducting initial reconnaissance of damaged
areas as a wide range of other Defense Department assets works its way to
tsunami-stricken regions of the Indian Ocean.

U.S. Pacific Command has marshaled assets ranging from carrier strike groups to
water purification ships to aircraft to provide emergency support for victims
following the Dec. 26 earthquake and subsequent tsunamis, Marine Corps Lt. Gen.
James Conway, director of operations for the Joint Staff, told reporters today
at a special State Department briefing.

Navy Adm. Tom Fargo, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, stood up Joint Task
Force 536 to coordinate U.S. relief efforts, Conway said. A forward command
element has moved into a military base at Utapao, Thailand, and the
headquarters is in the process of deploying. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Rusty
Blackman, commander of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force based in Okinawa, will
command the joint task force.

Meanwhile, the first of three Marine disaster relief assessment teams being
sent to the region arrived in Thailand earlier today and a second team was due
to arrive in Sri Lanka this afternoon. A third team will arrive in Indonesia
Dec. 30, Conway said.

In addition, U.S. Pacific Command has committed six C-130 aircraft and nine P-3
aircraft to the relief effort. Conway said all the C-130s and four of the P-3s
will operate out of Utapao. Five other P-3 aircraft will operate out of Diego
Garcia.

Conway said at least two of the P-3s already are conducting observation and
reconnaissance of damaged sites.

In addition, the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which was in Hong
Kong when the earthquake and tsunamis struck, has been diverted to the Gulf of
Thailand to support recovery operations, Conway said.

Aircraft from the strike group are checking the Malacca Straits for debris
before the strike group transits the area. "If it is clear -- and early reports
indicate it might be -- the five ships associated with that carrier strike group
will take position off the island of Sumatra," Conway said.

Conway said the Lincoln carrier strike group has 12 helicopters embarked that
he said could be "extremely valuable" in recovery missions.

An additional 25 helicopters are aboard USS Bonhomme Richard, headed to the Bay
of Bengal. Conway said the expeditionary strike group was in Guam and is
forgoing port visits in Guam and Singapore and expects to arrive in the Bay of
Bengal by Jan. 7.

Conway said the strike group, with its seven ships, 2,100 Marines and 1,400
sailors aboard, also has four Cobra helicopters that will be instrumented in
reconnaissance efforts.

Because fresh water is one of the greatest needs in the region, Fargo has
ordered seven ships -- each capable of producing 90,000 gallons of fresh water a
day -- to the region. Conway said five of these ships are pre-positioned in Guam
and two will come from Diego Garcia.

A field hospital ship pre-positioned in Guam would also be ordered to the
region, depending on findings of the disaster relief assessment teams and need,
Conway said.

The U.S. State Department is leading U.S. support for the relief effort. Marc
Grossman, undersecretary of state for political affairs, is leading the U.S.
task force formed today to respond to the crisis.

Grossman said the task force will work with the regional core group, made up of
Australia, Japan and India, to provide coordination and assistance. It also
will help coordinate the interagency response in Washington, D.C., and
encourage additional international support for the relief effort, he said.

"This is going to be a giant international requirement. Although we make a
substantial contribution -- more than anyone else in these emergencies -- this is
certainly not for us to do alone," Grossman said. "It is going to take a
worldwide effort. We would expect and hope and believe the world will respond."

But Andrew Natsios, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International
Development, stressed that "the principal responders in humanitarian
emergencies are the people themselves who live there." This, he said, includes
local officials who are in charge of responding and the national disaster
response teams "who speak the language, have the maps, know the transportation
system."

Natsios acknowledged that these groups can sometimes get overwhelmed by the
scope of a crisis and need help.

"We need to not think that these people are all paralyzed and can't help
themselves, and we go in there and save them all," Natsios said. "We know that
most of the best work is done by the people themselves. Our job is to support
the people in the cities and in the villages who will begin the reconstruction
process. So we are not there to tell them what to do, but to ask them how we
can help."

Biographies:
Navy Adm. Tom Fargo, Commander, U.S. Pacific
Command [/bios/fargo_bio.html]
Marine Corps Lt.
Gen. James Conway, Joint Staff Director of Operations [http://www.usmc.mil/genbios2.nsf/biographies/24F33DF7BF06B3A2852568030060440A?opendocument]
Marine Corps Lt.
Gen. Rusty Blackman, Commander, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force [http://www.usmc.mil/genbios2.nsf/biographies/E30A0E17D1A373C48525680B000C6053?opendocument]
Marc Grossman,
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/2982.htm]
Andrew Natsios,
Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development [http://www.usaid.gov/about_usaid/bios/bio_asn.html]

Related Sites:
State Department [http://www.state.gov/]
U.S. Agency for International
Development [http://www.usaid.gov/]
U.S. Pacific Command [http://www.pacom.mil/]
USS Abraham Lincoln [http://www.cvn72.navy.mil/]
USS Bonhomme Richard [http://www.lhd6.navy.mil/]
P-3
Orion [http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/aircraft/air-p3.html]
C-130
Hercules [http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=92]

Related Articles:
State Department Bush Pledges
U.S. Assistance to Tsunami Survivors [/news/Dec2004/n12292004_2004122904.html]
U.S. Responding to Tsunami
Catastrophe [/news/Dec2004/n12272004_2004122705.html]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2004/n12292004_2004122905.html.

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