A Military Guide to Haiti Operations and NGOs-Update

More News On The US Military Response To The Haiti Disaster

Pentagon defends response time of Haiti aid efforts -- Christian Science Monitor
Rescue Ops in Haiti: ‘The First 72 Hours Are Critical’ -- The Danger Room
Ships, troops arriving in Haiti -- Politico
US military moves in troops, ships to aid quake-hit Haiti -- AFP
First U.S. military aid reaches quake-stricken Haiti -- CNN
US Military Haiti Relief Operation -- Associated Content
FACTBOX-U.S. military mobilizes thousands for Haiti relief -- Forexpros

Coast Guard was one of the first to Haiti… and I don’t think we’ll be leaving anytime soon -- USNI
U.S. Navy ships head for Haiti -- UPI
U.S. Carrier Carl Vinson Joins Relief Effort -- Wall Street Journal
U.S. carrier to serve as ‘floating airport’ for Haiti operation -- National Post
Local military providing aid in Haiti -- Hampton Roads
USNS Hospital Ship Comfort gets ready to sail -- Baltimore Sun
U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Enlisted for Haiti Mission -- Wall Street Journal
Tweets From the Front Lines of Haiti Relief -- The Danger Room

U-​​2 Flights Likely Over Haiti; Predator May Go - -DoD Buzz
Drones the First to Arrive in Haiti -- Defense Tech
U.S. Diverts Spy Drone from Afghanistan to Haiti -- The Danger Room
Robots Aid Rescue Teams in Haiti -- Robots.net
Air Force battles chaos at Haiti's airport -- USA Today
Air Force Coordinates Military Relief For Haiti -- SCPR

Just Over 300 US Troops On Ground In Haiti -- Newsroom America
US military arrives to restore law to Haiti's ravaged capital -- Times Online
U.S. Military May Deploy Troops in Haiti -- CBS News
Marines Prep for Haiti “Humanitarian Invasion” -- War is Boring

Is Pentagon’s Haiti Mission a Model for a New Security Role? -- New York Times

Military ‘Working Feverishly’ to Help Haiti, Commander Says - Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service. With Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ committing all available military resources to the Haiti relief effort, U.S. Southern Command is “working feverishly and aggressively ” to get them there as quickly as possible, its commander said today. “We are making use of every asset we have,” Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser told reporters at his Miami headquarters. “And our focus remains very definitely on making sure we get relief to Haiti as absolutely soon as we can get it there.” The U.S. military has 329 troops on the ground in Haiti, and that number is expected to increase to more than 750 by tomorrow, and almost 1,000 by the week’s end, Fraser reported. That’s in addition to more than 2,000 Marines, slated to arrive aboard three ships of an amphibious readiness group, along with heavy-lift helicopters, Jan. 19. The Marines are assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Lejeune, N.C. An initial company of about 100 82nd Airborne paratroopers, assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 73rd Infantry, at Fort Bragg, N.C., arrived in Haiti today, with the remainder en route, Fraser said. They’ll be followed tomorrow by a command and control element from the division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team and additional 2nd BCT paratroopers. Over the next four days, about 700 additional soldiers will deploy to support relief efforts, he said. Meanwhile, the USS Carl Vinson, an aircraft carrier home-ported in Norfolk, Va., is slated to arrive in Haiti tomorrow, carrying 19 helicopters and 30 pallets of relief goods, Fraser said. The Vinson will provide a critical platform for support for the heavily damaged island, he said. And the hospital ship USNS Comfort is being readied in Baltimore, expected to get underway Jan. 16 and arrive in Haiti Jan. 21. Once on station, its crew will be able to provide medical care for up to 1,000 patients in 12 operating rooms. The Coast Guard, which maintains a regular presence in the region, has four major cutters – 210 feet and larger and equipped with helicopter decks – to provide lift capability and security, Coast Guard 7th District Commander Rear Adm. Steve Branham reported. Two additional Coast Guard cutters are on the way to Haiti, he said, as well as a buoy tender vessel that will provide heavy-lift capability to support the effort. Coast Guard fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft also are on site, providing airlift to move supplies into Haiti and to medevac critically injured patients, Branham said. Air Force Lt. Gen. P.K. "Ken" Keen, Southcom’s deputy commander, is on the ground in Haiti, commanding the joint task force.-- 

Haiti: What We’re Getting Into - Tim Sullivan, AEI's Center for Defense Studies (CDS).

In the weeks ahead, the Center for Defense Studies will be producing a series of backgrounders on the U.S. military’s relief mission in Haiti. To view the first of these ”Issue Alerts,” which outlines the U.S. forces deployed the Haiti and the unexpected challenges they may face there, click here.

More at CDS.

Aid Surge Gets Going in Haiti - Tina Susman and Joe Mozingo and Julian E. Barnes, Los Angeles Times. The leading edge of a massive relief effort gained a toehold around the Haitian capital Friday, with the U.S. military taking control of the airport and helicopters ferrying supplies from an aircraft carrier positioned off the coast. But deep within the city's neighborhoods, residents fended for themselves -- evacuating those who could go, caring for those who couldn't and putting to rest those who would move no more. Hundreds of doctors and aid workers and tons of supplies arrived at the airport, now teeming with traffic. U.S. officials said their goal was to land an aid flight every 20 minutes. Through the weekend, the U.S. military contingent assigned to the relief effort will grow to as many as 10,000, the officials said. As aid poured in, those trying to distribute it faced the challenge of punching through mountains of rubble, smashed cars and streets strewn with bodies to reach a population clamoring for help. Aside from a few police officers trying to control crowds at a gas station or direct traffic, there was virtually no sign of any authority in Port-au-Prince. The capital seemed remarkably calm three days after being devastated by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, despite the growing frustration of people with no food, water or shelter.