Thursday
Jan142010
U.S. Rallies To Aid Of Quake-Rocked Haiti
Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 5:56PM
The 'swift, coordinated and aggressive' relief effort promised by President Barack Obama to aid quake-ravaged Haiti has begun to take shape.
By Monday, the devastated Caribbean nation will have access 5,000 U.S. troops, with fully-staffed hospital ships also slated to arrive.
"For this particular deployment there, will be approximately 600 personnel aboard [hospital ship the USNS Comfort," Laura Seal, a public affairs specialist with the Navy Military Sea Lift Command, told Talk Radio News. "There will be about 560 medical personnel."
Additionally, the U.S. Coast Guard has committed 4 cutters, or mid-sized boats, and a C-144 aircraft for aerial surveillance.
The allocation of resources is not coming from the military alone. The U.S. State Department has been active in search and rescue efforts and is also focusing on restoring the country's communication infrastructure.
While the level of U.S. engagement is certainly significant, there is still no way to determine what kind of impact will be made. Compounding this uncertainty is the slow rate at which supplies are arriving. According to a Pentagon official, a large portion of resources will not arrive until late this weekend, a problem the official attributes to the slow speed of the committed vessels.
By Monday, the devastated Caribbean nation will have access 5,000 U.S. troops, with fully-staffed hospital ships also slated to arrive.
"For this particular deployment there, will be approximately 600 personnel aboard [hospital ship the USNS Comfort," Laura Seal, a public affairs specialist with the Navy Military Sea Lift Command, told Talk Radio News. "There will be about 560 medical personnel."
Additionally, the U.S. Coast Guard has committed 4 cutters, or mid-sized boats, and a C-144 aircraft for aerial surveillance.
The allocation of resources is not coming from the military alone. The U.S. State Department has been active in search and rescue efforts and is also focusing on restoring the country's communication infrastructure.
While the level of U.S. engagement is certainly significant, there is still no way to determine what kind of impact will be made. Compounding this uncertainty is the slow rate at which supplies are arriving. According to a Pentagon official, a large portion of resources will not arrive until late this weekend, a problem the official attributes to the slow speed of the committed vessels.
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