Post by mikekerstetter on Mar 15, 2011 16:45:26 GMT -5
themoderatevoice.com/103922/japan-tragedy-as-in-haiti-as-anywhere-and-anytime-the-u-s-military-steps-up-to-the-plate/
Japan Tragedy: As in Haiti, as Anywhere and Anytime, the U.S. Military Steps up to the Plate
Posted by DORIAN DE WIND in At TMV, Breaking News, Health, International, Media, Places, Society.
Mar 15th, 2011
As is usual in most international disasters, the United States of America leads the world in providing humanitarian aid to the victims of those disasters. And, as always, the U.S. military spearheads such relief efforts. As I wrote in a series of articles here at TMV, the U.S. military did so admirably well during the Haiti tragedy and is doing so already in the wake of the Japan earthquake and tsunami.
The following are headlines and excerpts about some of these efforts that have appeared in various publications during the past 48 hours.
Sign On San Diego reports that the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan has been deployed in the Pacific Ocean near Japan:
The Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier that accommodates more than 5,000 sailors, is about 100 miles offshore is being used as a refueling station, a supply warehouse and a launchpad for helicopters engaged in deliveries and search-and-rescue missions…
In all, three Navy vessels based in San Diego are now off the Japanese coast for a massive humanitarian mission involving numerous ships.
…Navy pilots have been searching for survivors, landing in villages with water, blankets, food and questions about what else may be needed, and flying from sunup to sundown over a country that seems alternately peaceful and pummeled.
::
The Navy said Monday the Reagan and 17 military personnel flying helicopter runs in the area came into contact with low levels of radiation from one of the damaged nuclear power plants in Japan, but Norris and Ackerman said the potential for nuclear radiation is not a concern for them. They said the pilots’ biggest risks involve accounting for winds coming out of the nearby mountains, avoiding downed power lines and trees, and finding stable ground to land their helicopters.
Reuters reports the latest details from the Pentagon on the “mobilization of American forces that will see the U.S. military ferry humanitarian aid, evacuate survivors and assist Japanese troops grappling with Japan’s worst crisis since World War Two.”:
SHIPS OPERATING OFF JAPAN
* The USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, which includes the cruiser USS Chancellorsville, the destroyer USS Preble and the combat support ship USNS Bridge, is conducting operations off the east coast of Honshu and is now about 180 nautical miles away from the Fukushima nuclear complex.
* The guided-missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald, USS John S. McCain, USS McCampbell and USS Curtis Wilbur are in the same area.
* USS Mustin (DDG 89) is at sea south of the disaster site.
AIR OPERATIONS
* Air operations on Monday included 10 helicopters from Naval Air Facility Atsugi and USS Ronald Reagan identifying several groups of people in need of assistance in the vicinity of Minato, and delivering water, blankets and food. Additional helicopters conducted surveys of the at-sea debris field, and conducted search and rescue missions along the coastline.
* U.S. Navy P-3 “Orion” aircraft flew two missions to survey and assess the debris field at sea.
SHIPS DUE TO ARRIVE
* USS Tortuga, an amphibious dock landing ship, loaded two heavy-lift MH-53 helicopters on Saturday in South Korea. It will arrive on the Japanese island of Hokkaido on Tuesday where it will pick up 300 Japan Ground Self Defense Force personnel and 90 vehicles bring them to Aomori, Japan.
* USS Essex, a large amphibious assault ship, had just arrived in Malaysia when the tsunami hit. It got underway on Saturday en route to the east coast of Honshu and is expected to arrive around March 16.
* USS Blue Ridge, the U.S. Seventh Fleet command ship which the Navy describes as “the most capable command ship ever built,” had just arrived in Singapore when the tsunami hit. It immediately changed its focus to loading humanitarian assistance/disaster relief equipment. It departed Singapore on Saturday en route to the east coast of Honshu and is expected to arrive as soon as March 16.
* USS Harpers Ferry, a dock landing ship based in Sasebo, Japan, and the USS Germantown, an amphibious dock landing ship home-ported in San Diego, California, have been redirected to Japan from locations in Southeast Asia. Both were described as at least a couple days away.
The Stars and Stripes reports on Marine Corps aircraft and personnel departing Okinawa to assist in the humanitarian effort:
Relief support from Okinawa continued Monday afternoon as three Marine Corps C-130J cargo planes departed here bound for Naval Air Facility Atsugi and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.
One of the cargo planes that departed for Atsugi was packed with pallets of generators, fuel containers, water and fuel containers, air conditioners, communication gear, as well as 30 Marines from 7th Communications Battalion.
The Marines were to set up a new command post for III Marine Expeditionary Forces Forward Command Element at Atsugi, officials said.
We’ll keep you posted on the humanitarian work by the U.S. military in Japan.
Japan Tragedy: As in Haiti, as Anywhere and Anytime, the U.S. Military Steps up to the Plate
Posted by DORIAN DE WIND in At TMV, Breaking News, Health, International, Media, Places, Society.
Mar 15th, 2011
As is usual in most international disasters, the United States of America leads the world in providing humanitarian aid to the victims of those disasters. And, as always, the U.S. military spearheads such relief efforts. As I wrote in a series of articles here at TMV, the U.S. military did so admirably well during the Haiti tragedy and is doing so already in the wake of the Japan earthquake and tsunami.
The following are headlines and excerpts about some of these efforts that have appeared in various publications during the past 48 hours.
Sign On San Diego reports that the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan has been deployed in the Pacific Ocean near Japan:
The Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier that accommodates more than 5,000 sailors, is about 100 miles offshore is being used as a refueling station, a supply warehouse and a launchpad for helicopters engaged in deliveries and search-and-rescue missions…
In all, three Navy vessels based in San Diego are now off the Japanese coast for a massive humanitarian mission involving numerous ships.
…Navy pilots have been searching for survivors, landing in villages with water, blankets, food and questions about what else may be needed, and flying from sunup to sundown over a country that seems alternately peaceful and pummeled.
::
The Navy said Monday the Reagan and 17 military personnel flying helicopter runs in the area came into contact with low levels of radiation from one of the damaged nuclear power plants in Japan, but Norris and Ackerman said the potential for nuclear radiation is not a concern for them. They said the pilots’ biggest risks involve accounting for winds coming out of the nearby mountains, avoiding downed power lines and trees, and finding stable ground to land their helicopters.
Reuters reports the latest details from the Pentagon on the “mobilization of American forces that will see the U.S. military ferry humanitarian aid, evacuate survivors and assist Japanese troops grappling with Japan’s worst crisis since World War Two.”:
SHIPS OPERATING OFF JAPAN
* The USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, which includes the cruiser USS Chancellorsville, the destroyer USS Preble and the combat support ship USNS Bridge, is conducting operations off the east coast of Honshu and is now about 180 nautical miles away from the Fukushima nuclear complex.
* The guided-missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald, USS John S. McCain, USS McCampbell and USS Curtis Wilbur are in the same area.
* USS Mustin (DDG 89) is at sea south of the disaster site.
AIR OPERATIONS
* Air operations on Monday included 10 helicopters from Naval Air Facility Atsugi and USS Ronald Reagan identifying several groups of people in need of assistance in the vicinity of Minato, and delivering water, blankets and food. Additional helicopters conducted surveys of the at-sea debris field, and conducted search and rescue missions along the coastline.
* U.S. Navy P-3 “Orion” aircraft flew two missions to survey and assess the debris field at sea.
SHIPS DUE TO ARRIVE
* USS Tortuga, an amphibious dock landing ship, loaded two heavy-lift MH-53 helicopters on Saturday in South Korea. It will arrive on the Japanese island of Hokkaido on Tuesday where it will pick up 300 Japan Ground Self Defense Force personnel and 90 vehicles bring them to Aomori, Japan.
* USS Essex, a large amphibious assault ship, had just arrived in Malaysia when the tsunami hit. It got underway on Saturday en route to the east coast of Honshu and is expected to arrive around March 16.
* USS Blue Ridge, the U.S. Seventh Fleet command ship which the Navy describes as “the most capable command ship ever built,” had just arrived in Singapore when the tsunami hit. It immediately changed its focus to loading humanitarian assistance/disaster relief equipment. It departed Singapore on Saturday en route to the east coast of Honshu and is expected to arrive as soon as March 16.
* USS Harpers Ferry, a dock landing ship based in Sasebo, Japan, and the USS Germantown, an amphibious dock landing ship home-ported in San Diego, California, have been redirected to Japan from locations in Southeast Asia. Both were described as at least a couple days away.
The Stars and Stripes reports on Marine Corps aircraft and personnel departing Okinawa to assist in the humanitarian effort:
Relief support from Okinawa continued Monday afternoon as three Marine Corps C-130J cargo planes departed here bound for Naval Air Facility Atsugi and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.
One of the cargo planes that departed for Atsugi was packed with pallets of generators, fuel containers, water and fuel containers, air conditioners, communication gear, as well as 30 Marines from 7th Communications Battalion.
The Marines were to set up a new command post for III Marine Expeditionary Forces Forward Command Element at Atsugi, officials said.
We’ll keep you posted on the humanitarian work by the U.S. military in Japan.
