LRS, Services personnel support Operation Unified Response

  • Published
  • By Lt. Shawn M. Walleck
  • 911 AW/PA
PITTSBURGH IAP ARS --  At approximately 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 12, an earthquake measuring 7.0 struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, followed by multiple aftershocks. On Jan. 13, Air Mobility Command was tasked by U.S. Transportation Command through U.S. Southern Command to begin providing assistance. On Jan. 16, USSOUTHCOM established Joint Task Force Haiti to oversee U.S. military relief efforts in Haiti and appointed U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ken Keen to command the task force. The task force mission has been designated Operation Unified Response.

Operation Unified Response is part of a larger U.S. response to a request from the government of Haiti for humanitarian aid. USSOUTHCOM is working closely with the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development and the international community to aggressively provide life-sustaining services to the people of Haiti.

"Our hearts go out to our Haitian friends and all those affected by the devastation caused by the earthquake. We offer our sincere condolences backed with our commitment to help them work through these trying times," said Col. Gordon H. Elwell, Jr., 911th Airlift Wing commander.
To date the 911th has sent 11 Airmen from the Services Squadron and two personnel from the Logistics Readiness Squadron to Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., which has become a hub for relief effort coordination.

Homestead is important to the Haiti relief effort because of its strategic location, Lt. Gen. Charles E. Stenner Jr. told bloggers and online journalists during a "DoDLive" bloggers roundtable Jan. 19. Homestead ARB, the general said, has been serving as a secondary aerial port of embarkation. Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., is serving as the primary.

"Our LRS personnel were by-name requested from AFRC and that speaks volumes to the level of expertise we have right here in Pittsburgh. I am extremely grateful to our personnel who willingly stepped-up to volunteer in support of the relief efforts. This will be a long-term effort extending for many months, perhaps over a year," Colonel Elwell said.

"We are the central staging area for moving equipment and supplies into Haiti and the focal point to move people from the island to other places in the U.S. Aircraft leave Homestead full of relief supplies bound for Haiti and then they return back to Homestead full of evacuees. As of Jan. 21 we have moved more than 2,000 people from Haiti and shipped more than 800,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to Haiti so far," said Maj. Todd McCrann, Operation Unified Response Night Shift deployment Control Center director and 911th Logistics Readiness Squadron commander.
On the Services side of the operation things are just as busy. "911th personnel are cranking out box lunches at a rate of approximately 200 per hour or 4,800 per day," said Master Sgt. Tim Benning, Services Squadron superintendent. "They're working 12 hour days in an effort to ensure food makes it over to Haiti and that evacuees get fed once they get on the ground in Homestead."

U.S. Air Force forces are part of a larger Department of Defense and U.S. response to the Government of Haiti request for humanitarian aid. The total effort includes multiple U.S. agencies, international partners, and non-governmental organizations aggressively providing life-sustaining services to the people of Haiti.

As expressed by President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, the U.S. government remains committed to comprehensive support of the government of Haiti and the Haitian people in this time of crisis.

"Airmen are supporting U.S Southern Command efforts in Haiti as part of the Department of Defense team, in conjunction with other U.S. government agencies and the International community to help provide critical aid and comfort to hundreds of thousands of Haitians at a time of great need. Whether helping to ensure planes carrying much-needed supplies and personnel get into Port-au-Prince around-the clock, repatriating U.S. citizens out of Haiti, or assisting with desperately needed medical care, the contributions made by the men and women of the Air Force supporting USSOUTHCOM have been integral to overall relief efforts," said Secretary of the Air Force, Michael B. Donley.