US Military Surges for Haitian Relief

America is throwing its military might into relief efforts in Haiti, with more than 100 Soldiers from the elite 82nd Airborne division landing in Port au Prince last night and an additional 2,000 Marines steaming toward the earthquake-ravaged island laden with helicopters, trucks and medical supplies.

According to Pentagon and military officials, the Navy aircraft carrier Carl Vinson has already arrived at the port in Haiti's capital, bringing with it 19 helicopters and fresh water processing capability. The military expects to have about 10,000 troops in the area by Monday.

"I don't know how this government could have responded faster or more comprehensively than it has," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters today at the Pentagon.

Gates added that military leaders were reluctant to rush help to Haiti without assessing how that assistance would get there and be distributed securely, rebutting critics who wonder whether the Pentagon was dragging its feet.

"The collapse of the infrastructure in Haiti, the small size of the airport, the time it takes a ship to get from point A to point B, those are all just facts of life," Gates said.

Gates explained the military decided very early against air drops of supplies, worrying that parachuting parcels into unsecured areas would be "a formula for contributing to chaos rather than preventing it."

A company from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne and Marines from the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit will help provide security and coordinate relief distribution and disaster cleanup.\

"The initial intent is to strategically place some of our Soldiers so they can help with the relief distribution," said Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen during a Jan. 15 press conference with Gates.

While the 82nd has already landed at the Port au Prince airport via C-17 Globemaster III transport, the MEU plans to leave tomorrow for Haiti and expects to arrive early next week. Marines were recalled from post-deployment leave two days ago and immediately began crisis planning, said Marine Capt. Clark Carpenter, speaking to reporters by telephone.

The Bataan, one of the largest amphibious ships in the world, left its berth at Norfolk, Va., yesterday, accompanied by landing ship dock Carter Hall and landing ship dock Fort McHenry, to ferry the Marines to Haiti.

Carpenter said the amphibs will take on a load of eight CH-53E Super Stallion heavy lift helicopters and four UH-1N Hueys, along with a number of 7-ton trucks, earth moving tractors, water purification equipment that can purify seawater, medical and other humanitarian supplies. The Bataan also carries three hovercraft in its well deck that can transport supplies that weigh as much as an M-1 tank from ships to the beach.

"We can put tons of supplies ashore by sea, or we can move tons of supplies with our helicopters," Carpenter said. The Marines will leave their Harriers and Cobra attack helicopters behind and there are no plans to deploy the MV-22 Osprey.

Shortly after the quake and following the rescue by Coast Guard C-130 Hercules and HH-60 Seahawks of American embassy staff from Port au Prince, the Air Force dispatched unmanned spy planes to assess the damage and plan for a US aid surge. On Wednesday, an RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drone was dispatched from Beale Air Force Base, Calif., for a look-see.

"In effect, you get to look at what we know is damaged, and what we know is still serviceable," said 12th Reconnaissance Squadron operations officer, Lt. Col. Mark Lozier. "We can take a look at airfields to assess, right now, whether or not we will be able to get airlift in there with aid. We don't have to wait for a ground team to get in there and make on site decisions."

The Air Force then sent in a Special Tactics Team of security troops and combat controllers to establish a safe air corridor to the Haitian capital late Wednesday. That got the airport up and running by early Thursday, said 23rd Special Tactics Squadron commander, Lt. Col. Brett Nelson.

Air Force Col. Steve Shea, director of combat support center at the Air Force Office of Logistics and Materiel Readiness, described the military's mission at Port au Prince Airport as attempting to meet a massive need by moving massive amounts of aid through a funnel.

"For the foreseeable future you have a huge funnel at one end north of Haiti that is all the good will," he said during a briefing with military bloggers. "Everyone wants to pour something into Haiti. And then you have this very constricted pipeline [to] get it in there, and that is Port au Prince Airport."

The real breakthrough will be when the seaport opens, Shea said. The port was damaged by the earthquake and U.S. Transportation Command out of Scott Air Force Base, Ill., is currently inspecting it.

"Clearly the ability to use a seaport enables both the international community and Department of Defense to move far more tonnage of supplies that will be needed there and far exceeds what we can do by airlift," Shea said.

During the first 24 hours of the military airlift Air Mobility Command flew in 59 tons of cargo and more than 100 people. The first flight, a C-17 from the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., brought in California Task Force 2, a 72-member urban search and rescue team of doctors, paramedics, structural specialists, rescue personnel and search dogs.

Mobility aircraft have also been ferrying in additional supplies and personnel from Dover Air Force Base, Del., Pope Air Force Base, N.C., and Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. An Air Mobility Command contingency response group from the 621st Contingency Response Wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., is on the ground in Haiti to help coordinate airport command and control ops, according to an AMC statement.

And Pentagon officials emphasize that the massive effort is all geared toward easing the suffering of Haitians and prevent a descent into chaos and vigilantism after one of the most deadly natural disasters in that nation's tortured history.

"The key is to get the food and the water in there as quickly as possible so that people don't -- in their desperation -- turn to violence or lead to the security situation deteriorating," Pentagon chief Gates said. "But at this point, other than some scavenging and minor looting, our understanding is the security situation is pretty good."

Military.com Associate Editors Bryant Jordan and Greg Grant, DoD Buzz Editor Colin Clark and Managing Editor Christian Lowe contributed to this report.