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Airmen providing relief after Haiti quake

Barely a day had passed since a massive earthquake had devastated Haiti and yet special operations airmen swarmed on the ground of the tiny island nation.

Pararescuemen fanned out into the capital city of Port-au-Prince, sifting through rubble for survivors, and saved seven lives in the first 18 hours.

Combat controllers took charge at the city’s airport, which had been operating uncontrolled since the Jan. 12 quake. The airmen cleared the airport’s lone runway of obstacles and started directing air traffic using portable radios they carried on their backs, because the air traffic control tower was out of commission.

By the next morning, the runway was up and running.

“They had to clear up the confusion and get aircraft in the right parking spots,” said Maj. Jason Daniels, an operations officer for the 720th Special Tactics Group, which deployed the Spec Ops teams in two MC-130Hs from Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Providing some order out of chaos was crucial as international officials and aid agencies descended on Haiti.

“The air traffic was absolutely horrendous,” said Capt. Mike Rubeling of the 21st Airlift Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., a co-pilot on a C-17 that flew into Haiti on Jan. 14.

“We were in a holding pattern with 13 other aircraft [and] they had only four or five parking spots. And everyone’s low on gas.”

Rubeling and nine other airmen were able to deliver their cargo: 72 members of a search-and-rescue team from California. “It was definitely a privilege to be part of that team,” Rubeling said.

More Air Force teams were waiting to deploy to Haiti, but had trouble getting into the country.

The 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt tried to send a third C-130 on Jan. 12 — it flew all the way to Haiti, but had to turn around and come home because it could not get clearance to land, said Air Force Special Operations Command spokeswoman Buffy Galbraith. Planes full of people, supplies and equipment were ready and waiting for clearance to depart, she said.

Airmen from the Ohio National Guard’s 179th Airlift Wing flew into Haiti on Jan. 13 in two Puerto Rico National Guard C-130s, which carried a team of 30 people from Miami-based U.S. Southern Command.

Special Operations Command said in a press release that further support would deploy as necessary.

The Navy has also mobilized to provide relief in Haiti. Seven ships — including the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson — are or have orders to get underway to support humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti, according to Navy officials.

Carl Vinson was rerouted Wednesday and was expected to arrive off the coast of Haiti on Thursday.

The amphibious assault ship Bataan and dock landing ships Fort McHenry and Carter Hall were to get underway Thursday afternoon from Hampton Roads to conduct humanitarian relief exercises in preparation for Haiti relief efforts, Navy officials said.

Together with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, the force will total more than 3,600 sailors and Marines.

Bataan is homeported at Naval Station Norfolk. Fort McHenry and Carter Hall are homeported at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Va.

The amphibious assault ship Bataan and dock landing ships Fort McHenry and Carter Hall have been ordered out of Norfolk, Va., to conduct humanitarian relief exercises in preparation for Haiti relief efforts, said Ted Brown, spokesman for Fleet Forces Command.

The Norfolk-based cruiser Normandy, and Mayport, Fla.-based frigate Underwood (FFG 36) departed Wednesday, officials said. The Military Sealift Command hospital ship Comfort is expected to get underway from Baltimore by Saturday.

Two Puerto Rico Air National Guard C-130s on Wednesday transported to Haiti a team of 30 people from Miami-based U.S. Southern Command to work with U.S. Embassy personnel as well as Haitian, U.N. and international officials to assess the situation and facilitate follow-on U.S. military support, said Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, SouthCom commander. The team includes military engineers, operational planners, a command and control group and communication specialists.

Early Wednesday morning, Coast Guard helicopters evacuated four critically injured U.S. Embassy staff to hospital at Naval Station Guantanamo, Cuba, for further treatment.

A U.S. P-3 from the Forward Operating Location at Comalapa, El Salvador, also conducted aerial reconnaissance of the affected area.

SouthCom has supported 14 major relief missions in the region since 2005, including assistance to Haiti in September 2008. During that mission, U.S. forces from the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge and other units airlifted 3.3 million pounds of aid to communities that were devastated by a succession of major storms.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Haitian people and all those affected by this devastating earthquake,” said Army Col. James Marshall, SouthCom spokesman.

Last summer, the hospital ship Comfort conducted a four-month deployment as part of “Continuing Promise 2009.” The ship visited Antigua, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Panama. Each visit lasted about 10 to 12 days.

Vinson and its crew of about 3,200 sailors left Norfolk on Tuesday en route to their new homeport in San Diego. The carrier, which is commanded by Capt. Bruce Lindsey, was joined by Carrier Air Wing 17 and the cruisers Lake Champlain and Bunker Hill. As flagship of the newly established Carrier Strike Group 1, Vinson was to provide maritime security as it circumnavigates South America and provide humanitarian assistance or disaster relief, if required.

That call came only hours later when a magnitude-7.0 quake devastated the impoverished nation Tuesday afternoon, leveling thousands of structures and leaving an untold number trapped in the ruins. Death tolls are expected in the thousands, and International Red Cross spokesman Paul Conneally said 3 million people, one-third of Haiti’s population, may need emergency aid.

Bunker Hill and Lake Champlain have not been assigned to the relief mission, a Navy official said Wednesday.

The United Nations has 9,000 peacekeepers in Haiti, but most are searching for survivors in their headquarters, which collapsed on an unknown number of people. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was reported as saying in his radio address that “[i]t would appear that everyone who was in the building, including my friend Hedi Annabi, the United Nations’ Secretary General’s special envoy, and everyone with him and around him, are dead.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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