Earthquake in haiti

Chockstock

The Stars and Stripes Forever
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Old news by now...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/world/americas/14haiti.html?hp

Its awful. Can't help but why things like this even happen. My heart goes out to Haiti and those suffering there...

Anyway. I posted this here because I heard that (of course) the US Coast Guard was heavily involved in meeting the crisis. Anyone have any deeper info about the USCG's involvement in Haiti right now? They must have their hands full...

BTW what kind of assistance would the USCG provide anyway? I know they protect our coasts, but I wouldn't expect the CG to provide food or water for disaster victims...
 
The Coast Guard Cutter FORWARD is in the port of Port Au Prince as we speak; it got in early this afternoon. The Coast Guard Cutter MOHAWK will arrive tomorrow morning. Two other cutters are also in the area. Coast Guard MH-60 from AIRSTA Clearwater transported four critically injured Americans to GTMO. Two Coast Guard C-130s from AIRSTA Elizabeth City are also in Port au Prince.

Port au Prince is not an easy place to pull into. Prior to the earthquake it was bad. I've pulled into a couple different ports there, and the aids to navigation are almost nonexistant.

What will the Coast Guard do? The Coast Guard can do a lot of things. Delivering aid, water and food is one of them. Securing waterways, saving people, medical evacuations, security....there are MANY MANY things the Coast Guard is able to do. The Coast Guard regularly interacts with Haiti and the Haitian Coast Guard as well. Apparently, according to news reports, the Haitian Coast Guard lost 40 members in one of their buildings.

You will recall a Coast Guard Cutter was the first U.S. ship to deliver aid to the Republic of Georgia last year after Russia invaded.

The op tempo is pretty high. Coast Guard Atlantic Area (LANTAREA) is working hard, with the tasking of the President and the Secretary of Homeland Security to do everything the Coast Guard can.

Haiti was a very rough country to begin with, including Port au Prince. I was first there in 2003. I traded away one of my cutter shirts for a wood mask. You can see all of the ships that have been through there, because all of the traders that paddle out to the ships wear their covers and shirts...very interesting picture. Thought and prayers go out to them.
 
LITS, thanks for all the information about what the Coast Guard is doing in Haiti.

When my son started this process, I was one of those people who believed that the Coast Guard's only jobs were to protect our ports and chase down drug dealers (I know, too much TV!!).

Thanks for all your interesting details. Sounds like a scarey place to be right now!
 
The US Military is the world's largest humanitarian orgainization.
Not only is the US Coast Guard assisting but the US Navy, Marines, Army and Air Force are or will be a part of the effort.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/01/navy_vinson_haiti_011310w/

Seven ships — including the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson — are or have orders to get underway in anticipation of humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti, according to Navy officials.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday afternoon conveyed to U.S. Southern command that providing humanitarian relief “is a very high priority for the president and for this department,” said Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary. The secretary said the Defense Department would do its best to provide “anything and everything they need, be it personnel, equipment, lift, whatever it may be,” as quickly as possible.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/navy_vinson_haiti_011310w/
 
It'll be a joint mission for sure. If it's like Katrina- I wouldn't be surprised to see MARAD get involved as well-calling up the training ships to act as barracks for relief workers. In the aftermath of Katrina I believe that as the most readily available "troop ships" both the "Empire State" and the "State of Maine" were called up and sent down to New Orleans for about 5 months to house relief workers. From what I can see the infrastructure which was always abysmal in Haiti is almost totally wrecked so as relief workers pour in - you have to be able to house them and feed them quickly.
It's gonna be a long haul for all of those poor souls in that country.

The US Military is the world's largest humanitarian orgainization.
Not only is the US Coast Guard assisting but the US Navy, Marines, Army and Air Force are or will be a part of the effort.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/01/navy_vinson_haiti_011310w/

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/navy_vinson_haiti_011310w/
 
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That was just mean. Who are you Rush Limbaugh's best friend or Pat Robertson's?
sheesh. Have some compassion.
 
LITS, can a CG helicopter lift containers from a container ship and fly it into town? I saw on the CNN a major relief problem is 1) The crane was damaged and cannot offload container ships and 2) The roads are totally impassable because of the buckling. I wondered if military could help offload the ships...tons of relief is there, waiting....and it cannot get to the people. It's horrific.
 
LITS, can a CG helicopter lift containers from a container ship and fly it into town?

I don't think they're made for that purpose. That's a heavy lift, as even a 20ft container when empty weighs about 5,000 lbs!

IMHO, the 2 most important immediate uses for our military are:

1) The Navy carrier USS Carl Vinson and it's capability to desalinate 400,000 gallons of seawater into fresh water per day;

2) The Army's 82nd Airborne to maintain and enforce order.
 
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LITS, can a CG helicopter lift containers from a container ship and fly it into town? I saw on the CNN a major relief problem is 1) The crane was damaged and cannot offload container ships and 2) The roads are totally impassable because of the buckling. I wondered if military could help offload the ships...tons of relief is there, waiting....and it cannot get to the people. It's horrific.

No, a Coast Guard helicopter cannot move a container from a container ship. The port of Port au Prince was hard to navigate before the earthquake. Reports have been released saying that the harbor is still dangerous. Don't want a Navy ship running aground.

Maintaining order is important. Water and food are important.

Keep an eye out for the Coast Guard District 9 blog....there may be an interesting post from one of the pilots in Haiti right now.
 
The main picture on www.whitehouse.gov (PLEASE REMEMBER, IT IS NOT .com!!!) is of two Coast Guard "Famous Class" cutters off of Port au Prince, Haiti.

The Coast Guard has three 270's (TAHOMA, FORWARD and MOHAWK) and one 210' in the area at this time.
 
Also, please browse http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=77427. This is the Coast Guard's imagery website, containing uploaded images from around the Coast Guard. A relatively large number of Haiti pictures are on there, and the number is growing. There are some images of the waterside damage as well. You will also find the picture of the Coast Guard cutters that was used by the White House on their website.
 
One of my husbands close friends is a CG CMDR (and USCGA grad) who is currently assigned as one of the defense attachés at the US Embassy in Port au Prince. Here is his current FB status (the only communication we have had from him so far), posted Wed AM:

""I am alive and only scratched up. Currently I own one pair of shorts and a t-shirt plus one pair of shoes. I will update as my emotions subside and I get some sleep...not likely in the next couple of days."
 
Compassion Yes. We should deploy as much aid as possible as quickly as possible. We do what we can in these situations because that is who we are. We do more and give more than anyone else because we know in our hearts it is right. Show me over the past one hundred years where our aid and relief efforts have earned us one bit of world respect or gratitude. It is always what have you done for us lately? I don't live in Florida or listen to that guy and I am not "Born Again" so I don't easily fit your description.
 
Show me over the past one hundred years where our aid and relief efforts have earned us one bit of world respect or gratitude.

The Marshall Plan. It earned George C. Marshall (VMI Class of 1901) a Nobel Peace Prize. How about the Berlin Airlift? That was a pretty big plus for the US as well as for the citizens of East Berlin. These are just a couple of examples of American humanitarian efforts that have received praise from the international community.
 
^^^^ I meant West Berlin. My apologies.

Also, I heard USNS Comfort will be enroute to Port-au-Prince tomorrow. This, I think, should be a very helpful move for treating the injured. I was wondering when the ship would get orders, and am glad to hear it is on the way to help (Merchant Mariners and Navy folks there).
 
The Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift were startegic responses to soviet advancements in Europe. Other than Marshall's Peace Prize where was the acclaim. We won the War and we rebuilt Europe and Japan. Who else would they have given it to? The King of Norway? It has already started. Some moron just suggested that we give all Haitians TPS or "Temporary Protected Status". That means that anyone from Haiti may enter the United States as a refugee and stay in this country until they can return to the home country without fear of unsafe or overly dangerous conditions. There will not be a person left on the west side of the island.
 
Other than Marshall's Peace Prize where was the acclaim.

So other than the most highly coveted award for the promotion of peace in the World, the US didn't get acclaim for the Marshall Plan? What exactly, in your mind, would have been sufficient recognition?

The Berlin Airlift and Marshall Plan were responses to Soviet threats, absolutely. What exactly is your point? They were also massive humanitarian efforts to help the economies of Western Europe/Japan that had been ravaged by WWII. Was the goal of the Marshall Plan to build up Germany and Japan so that they would not fall to Soviet influence? Yes. Does that make one iota of a difference regarding the good it did for the people of those countries? No. And the rest of the "Free World" certainly respected the U.S. for the effort.
 
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