The United States military's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake
Operation Unified Response
was the
United States military's
response
to the
2010 Haiti earthquake
.
[1]
It was conducted by Joint Task Force Haiti and commanded by
United States Southern Command
(USSOUTHCOM) Military Deputy Commander
Lieutenant General
Ken Keen
, although the overall U.S. government response was headed by
Rajiv Shah
, administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development
(USAID).
[2]
The response included personnel from all branches of the military.
[3]
The U.S. Navy listed its
resources
in the area on 19 January as "17 ships, 48 helicopters and 12 fixed-wing aircraft" in addition to 10,000 sailors and Marines.
[4]
By 26 January, the U.S. military had 17,000 personnel in and around Haiti.
[5]
Between the beginning of relief efforts and 18 February the US Air Force had delivered nearly 6,000 support members and 19 million pounds of cargo while evacuating 15,000 American citizens and conducted
aeromedical evacuations
for 223 critical Haitian patients.
[6]
Elements of the mission included flying in relief supplies, flying out evacuees, including medical evacuees, loading helicopters with supplies at the
PAP
airport, and then dropping supplies at various points around Port-au-Prince, airdropping supplies from fixed-wing aircraft, establishing a field hospital near the
Port international de Port-au-Prince
, repairing a pier at the port, providing imagery from satellite,
Global Hawk
, and
U-2
assets.
Mission timeline
[
edit
]
- The
United States Navy
hospital ship
USNS
Comfort
(T-AH-20)
with 1,000 beds and 956 naval hospital staff was deployed to Haiti, as were the
guided-missile frigate
USS
Underwood
(FFG-36)
, and the
guided missile cruiser
USS
Normandy
(CG-60)
.
[14]
[15]
[16]
- Approximately 2,200
United States Marines
of the
22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit
from
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
sailed on the
USS
Bataan
(LHD-5)
,
USS
Carter Hall
(LSD-50)
, and
USS
Fort McHenry
(LSD-43)
;
[17]
while 3,000
United States Army
soldiers of the
XVIII Airborne Corps
HQ and the
82nd Airborne Division
from
Fort Bragg
were sent beginning on 13 January.
[16]
[18]
[19]
- On 16 January,
USS
Bunker Hill
(CG-52)
arrived in Haiti to assist the
Carl Vinson
.
[20]
- On 17 January, the
USCGC
Oak
(WLB-211)
and the
USNS
Grasp
(T-ARS-51)
arrived at Port-au-Prince to begin repairs to the wharves.
- On the 18th,
USS
Gunston Hall
(LSD-44)
anchored at
Killick
base, and started relief operations.
[21]
- Additional Marines from the
24th MEU
on the
USS
Nassau
(LHA-4)
,
USS
Mesa Verde
(LPD-19)
, and
USS
Ashland
(LSD-48)
,
[22]
which sailed from
Naval Station Norfolk
on the 18th, were diverted on the 20th from their scheduled deployment to the Middle East.
[23]
This was the first use of the
V-22 Osprey
for a humanitarian mission.
[22]
- Four injured personnel from the United States embassy were evacuated to the
naval base
at
Guantanamo Bay
, Cuba, by United States Coast Guard helicopters.
[24]
[25]
- As of 21 January, approximately 10,500 people have been evacuated from Haiti to the US, including 8,300 US citizens.
[26]
Approximately 45,000 American citizens were thought to have been in Haiti at the time of the earthquake.
- On 21 January,
Air National Guard
(ANG) air traffic controllers from the 260th Air Traffic Control Squadron (ATCS) in collaboration with the 248th ATCS, the 258th ATCS and the FAA took over air traffic control operations at
Toussaint Louverture International Airport
in Port-au-Prince. With an exorbitant amount of supplies, support, and aide in conjunction with evacuation operations, Toussaint Louverture International Airport became the busiest single runway Airport in the world averaging 675 operation per day.
- On 1 February, the
Carl Vinson
,
Bunker Hill
, and
USNS
Henson
(T-AGS-63)
ended their mission departed Haiti.
[27]
- On 3 February, the
Higgins
ended its relief mission and has headed for its home port.
[28]
- On 8 February, the 24th MEU and
Nassau
amphibious ready group
were ordered to resume their original deployment to the Middle East.
[29]
- On 12 February, the US relief force has been reduced from roughly 20,000 troops to roughly 13,000 troops.
[30]
- On 13 February, the
Gundston Hall
ended its relief mission and has headed back to its original mission.
[31]
- On 14 February, the
190th Civil Engineering Squadron
of the
Kansas Air National Guard
returned home.
[32]
- On 18 February, the
Oak
has left Haiti and arrived back at home port.
[33]
- On 1 March,
Carter Hall
was ordered home.
[34]
- On 8 March,
Comfort
had discharged its last patient,
[34]
and departed on 10 March.
[35]
- On 24 March, the 22nd MEU and ARG were released from their mission and sailed for home.
[36]
International reactions
[
edit
]
The United Nations expressed approval of the mission by United States and stated that the American troops would not stay long.
[37]
[38]
Elements of the public of France expressed dissatisfaction with both the much larger size of the American relief operations compared to those of European nations and the commanding role U.S. forces took on the ground.
[39]
Reflecting these feelings the French Minister for the Francophonie,
Alain Joyandet
, characterized the United States as "occupying" Haiti, citing the take over of
air traffic control
in the country.
[40]
Several Latin American leaders accused the United States of militarily occupying Haiti. These socialist leaders, all long-time critics of the United States, included Venezuelan president
Hugo Chavez
[41]
[42]
former Cuban President
Fidel Castro
,
[43]
Bolivian President
Evo Morales
[44]
and Nicaraguan President
Daniel Ortega
.
[45]
[46]
Through its
Department of State
the United States rejected the allegations and pointed to the fact that US forces were there by the invitation of the Haitian government.
[47]
Despite this
United States Congressman
Ron Paul
(
R
-Texas) opposed
House of Representatives
Resolution 1021,
[48]
citing concerns over "the possibility of an open-ended US military occupation of Haiti".
[49]
[50]
Legacy
[
edit
]
Air Force
Chief Master Sergeant
Antonio D. Travis
was named one of the top
100 most influential people of 2010
by
TIME Magazine
for his role in Operation Unified Response. Chief Travis is a
combat controller
who deployed to Port-au-Prince just 30 hours after the earthquake. His team set up a card table to conduct
air traffic control
operations for Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport, and was recognized for orchestrating the largest single-runway operation in history. The combat control team ran the airport for 12 days before US Air Force air traffic controllers took over. During those 12 days the team oversaw more than 4,000 takeoffs and landings, an average of one every five minutes. Their efforts are credited for ensuring the safe delivery many humanitarian relief teams from around the world and thousands of tons of life saving supplies.
[51]
[52]
[53]
[54]
See also
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
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"AMC Airmen critical to Operation Unified Response assisting Haiti earthquake victims"
. U.S. Air Force. Archived from
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on 20 July 2012
. Retrieved
20 January
2010
.
- ^
"Joint Task Force-Haiti launched"
. KBH News.com. 19 January 2010
. Retrieved
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2010
.
- ^
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.
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2010
.
- ^
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. Navy.mil
. Retrieved
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2010
.
- ^
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, CNN, 26 January 2010
- ^
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. Air Mobility Command Public Affairs. Archived from
the original
on 18 July 2012
. Retrieved
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2010
.
- ^
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- ^
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. NBC News. 13 January 2010
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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- ^
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.
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.
- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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.
- ^
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
[
dead link
]
- ^
a
b
"
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
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.
- ^
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- ^
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
a
b
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.
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. Archived from
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.
- ^
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.
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. Archived from
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.
- ^
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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. CNN. 21 January 2010
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Hampton Roads,
"The Carl Vinson departs Haiti"
,
Lauren King
,
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(accessed 2 February 2010)
- ^
SignOn San Diego,
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,
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,
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- ^
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.
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. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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,
AFP
,
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- ^
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"Little Creek-based USS Gunston Hall completes Haiti duty"
Archived
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Wayback Machine
,
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,
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- ^
FOX 4 KC,
"Kansas National Guard Returns From Haiti"
[
permanent dead link
]
,
Dave Dunn
,
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(accessed 18 February 2010)
- ^
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[
permanent dead link
]
,
Associated Press
,
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- ^
a
b
Navy Times,
"Navy’s Haiti duties winding down"
,
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,
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(accessed 8 March 2010)
- ^
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"US hospital ship Comfort leaving Haiti"
[
dead link
]
,
AP
,
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(accessed 13 March 2010)
- ^
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.
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. 25 March 2010. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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,
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,
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(in French)
- ^
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,
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,
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- ^
(in French)
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,
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,
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- ^
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,
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,
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- ^
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"
.
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.
- ^
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
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.
[
dead link
]
- ^
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.
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.
- ^
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.
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.
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[
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]
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. Archived from
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.
- ^
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- ^
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.
- ^
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