Navy, Coast Guard deploying forces to Haiti

[cali]

By Corinne Reilly
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 13, 2010

NORFOLK

Thousands of Hampton Roads sailors received orders this morning to prepare to deploy to Haiti as part of a massive U.S. effort to deliver humanitarian assistance in the wake of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake.

At least four Norfolk-based ships are getting ready to leave for the impoverished country, said Ted Brown, a spokesman with Norfolk’s Fleet Forces Command. The amphibious assault ship Bataan, the guided missile cruiser Normandy and the dock landing ships Fort McHenry and Carter Hall will likely leave port by Friday, the Navy said.

Expeditionary forces based at the Little Creek campus of the Joint Expeditionary Base also are preparing to deploy, Brown said.

Additional Navy ships that will deliver humanitarian assistance include the frigate Underwood, based in Mayport, Fla., and the hospital ship Comfort, homeported in Baltimore.

The San Diego-based aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, which left Norfolk on Tuesday after finishing its midlife overhaul, has been redirected to load equipment and supplies to assist in the recovery, Brown said.

Several U.S. Coast Guard ships also have been deployed to the area, including the Portsmouth-based cutter Forward, which arrived in Haiti early this morning, said Senior Chief Petty Officer Steve Carleton. The Coast Guard’s first order of business will be to assess whether main ports near Port-au-Prince are clear to receive ships carrying aid, Carleton said.
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/01/navy-coast-guard-deploying-forces-haiti

[Posteritatis]

1. Wow - props to the US Navy. (nt)

[Sebastian Doyle]

2. Well, let's get the obvious question out of the way.....

How the Hell can the US Coast Guard get deployed on foreign soil?

[MineralMan]

4. President Obama authorizes it. Perhaps you hadn't heard...

He's the Commander-in-Chief of the military.

[Retrograde]

16. and the other country requests it

or at least accepts it. Back when Loma Prieta hit in 1989 a number of countries, including the Soviet Union IIRC, offered aid. We were lucky in that we didn't need it, but it's the usual thing for countries to do when a major disaster hits.

[Earth_First]

8. Department of the Navy under executive order

The coast guard has served overseas many times.

[Captain Hilts]

28. Combat off the coast of Vietnam in the '60s. nt

[hack89]

50. Happens all the time

for example, the Coast Guard was a big player in maritime interdiction operations in Vietnam. They presently provide port security in the Middle East.

[Crabby Appleton]

52. The USCG had 15 causalities at the D-Day Normandy landing

they operated many of the landing craft


The USCG-1, formerly the 83300, escorted the first waves of landing craft into the Omaha assault area on D-Day morning. Her crew pulled 28 survivors from a sunken landing craft out of the English Channel right off the beaches before 0700, 6 June 1944. Here the 83-foot Coast Guard cutter USCG 1 is pictured off Omaha Beach on the morning of D-Day, tied up to an LCT and the Samuel Chase.

[MineralMan]

3. The Comfort does a great job in these situations.

Much praise to President Obama for mobilizing these Navy vessels. And, make no mistake, it is his orders that are sending them.

[Captain Hilts]

6. Comfort takes a while to fire up. nt

[MineralMan]

7. It does. I imagine they're working at flank speed to

accomplish that, too.

[Thothmes]

25. I suspect as her crew is preparing to sail, a lot of folks at

the Portsmouth Naval Hospital have orders to pack their bags and embark on the USNS Comfort.

[Captain Hilts]

26. Bethesda Naval also. No lines at Navy Federal Credit Union for a while...nt

[Captain Hilts]

5. Yay Norfolk!

[hedgehog]

9. The aircraft carrier is being loaded with supplies as it travels down

the East Coast.

I think Obama will have the Navy in Haiti sooner than George had FEMA in New Orleans!

[JuniperLea]

10. I understand that aircraft carriers have mass water purification capabilities...

This will be a huge help!

The Commander in Chief is clearly in command!

[Posteritatis]

13. Electricity generation too, I believe. (nt)

[JuniperLea]

14. Yes... that too...

A fully-appointed floating city.

Holding good thoughts...

[Captain Hilts]

20. 400,000 gallons a day. Think of the reactor as a large tea kettle. nt

[JuniperLea]

23. Excellent...

Smart move to send it, methinks.

This whole thing is weighing so heavy... those poor people.

[hedgehog]

53. I suspect that's more clean water than Port au Prince had

before the earthquake!

[Xenotime]

36. Exactly. That asswipe never did anything like this during his term.

[Xenotime]

37. Go Navy!! In case you haven't heard, there's a new sherriff.

We are going to show the world how thing SHOULD be done. Not the way the last fuckwad ignored the world.

[PacerLJ35]

40. I think it's a gross misunderstanding that people don't realize...

...the military was in New Orleans the day after the hurricane made landfall. The airport was full of military aircraft just as soon as it reopened. My own squadron launched flights to help evacuate patients and just about anything and anyone else they could fit into the C-130s.

[PacerLJ35]

11. I'm quite sure all branches of the US military are preparing for rescue missions

Air Force C-130 crews have already been put into alert to launch soon

[proteus_lives]

12. Go Navy!

:thumbsup:

:patriot:

[Captain Hilts]

21. Everybody hang on, Haiti's THAT way!

[proteus_lives]

42. LOL!

Your pic and sentence made me think, "Someone get McHale away from the wheel!"

[Lurks Often]

15. Some of the capabilities of the ships going

The Carl Vinson has an 80 bed hospital, at least 6 doctors including at least one surgeon, plus the appropriate medical staff for 6 doctors. It can produce 400,000 gallons of fresh water a day and under normal circumstances produce 18,000-20,000 meals a day. With a crew of approximately 5,000 they have enough food for 90 days, of course they will run through that much quicker. The nuclear reactors can produce about 8,000 kilowatts of power.

The Bataan has 6 operating rooms and an 600 bed hospital, no medical staff was specified, but I would presume it is at least double the number of doctors of the Carl Vinson and significantly more medical staff, it can produce 200,000 gallons of water per day.

The Comfort has 950 medical staff and 260 support staff

I expect by the end of the week the Navy and Marines will have in excess of 1000 medical professionals present, plus thousands of fit, motivated servicemen and women eager to help. The Army & the Air Force will be on site as well. While I grant that Haiti is in our backyards, we are still the only country in the world that can respond as quickly and with so much.

[Maru Kitteh]

17. K&R

[Stephanie]

18. If only they'd been deployed to New Orleans

[Captain Hilts]

22. IWO JIMA was sitting off the coast through the whole thing having been called to

the area for a hurricane hitting Florida.

[PacerLJ35]

31. The military did arrive in New Orleans...

My squadron flew there the day weather improved enough to get in. We weren't the only ones headed there that day either.

[lunatica]

19. Today I love our military

It can help in a way that's impossible for other organizations to do and it can do it immediately.

[KittyWampus]

24. exactly, the kind of somber mission that actually is meaningful

[PacerLJ35]

32. Military does this often

[Maru Kitteh]

27. Yay Coast Guard!

[Captain Hilts]

29. Hat's off to 'em! Go Coasties!

[CBR]

39. +1 nt

[malaise]

30. This will work until the first American soldier opens fire

on Haitian citizens. Then all hell will break lose. I wish the American media would stop hoping for civil unrest.

[bridgit]

33. Disagreed

[Pavulon]

35. Just like we did in the Tsunami?

nope

[malaise]

38. Look I love this face of America

the wonderful ability to help in disasters but you have no idea what they are facing here. The UN have lost their key human resources; the peacekeepers have lost their leadership; the government can't find lots of parliamentarians; the police are invisible and there are lots of weapons and gangs in that city.

Someone will snap and someone will react.
For the record the drugs for arms trade is big business between Jamaica and Haiti. I am not guessing about a volatile situation. Just hope those Ak47s and M16s are under the rubble somewhere.

[Pavulon]

41. Starving people, not exploiters

but people who are malnourished and starving are not going to fight people there to help them. Once the shooting stopped in IFOR, after we killed people, the remaining part of that mission was peaceful. In a destroyed country.

These people need help and we can help them. If someone does shoot at us I am sure we are equipped to deal with small arms fire.

[proteus_lives]

43. It won't be American soldiers firing first.

Put money on that.

[malaise]

44. That won't matter to the RWs

and there are people who enrich themselves off chaos

[proteus_lives]

46. How do you avoid that situation?

If soldiers are fired upon, what do you expect them to do? Not defend themselves?

I can't think of one disaster without looting, chaos and crime. It's the dark-side of human nature. How do you eliminate that? It's something that's not limited to one group, gender, race, orientation, religion or country.

[malaise]

47. Let the CARICOM and Haitian police force

deal with that side of things. The US army must not fire a shot.

[cali]

48. Yes, that's preferable, but is the Haitian police force functional at this point?

What sort of law enforcement does CARICOM field? And what if the Haitian government asks the U.S. to provide some police functions?

[malaise]

51. Haiti is a member of CARICOM

We share lots of resources already. National security and Law enforcement are part of CARICOM's mandate. There is a lot of cooperation with the US so this can be coordinated without problems.

http://www.caricom.org/

[cali]

45. and the alternative is what?

[bridgit]

34. It has to be so, America must respond

[ProfessorGAC]

49. That's What I Thought Too

While i applaud the effort, it does seem to be a "Well, Duh!" The U.S. has to do something to help. Just has to.
GAC