Troops Set Up Front Lines for Survival in Haiti
(January 18, 2010) |
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| PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan. 17, 2010 – As the sun rises over
the sweeping palms here, not much is certain about Army Lt.
Col. Mike Foster's day.
But one thing that is certain is that a hundred yards or so
away, down a slope lined by a narrow, worn footpath, are
thousands of earthquake survivors who will look to him and
his troops for the basics of their survival. |
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| Army Spc. Brent Nailor of
the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Squadron, 73rd
Cavalry Regiment, passes out packaged meals to
women and children in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,
Jan. 16, 2010. The squadron established a
forward operating base at an abandoned and
damaged country club near the U.S. embassy. A
survivor camp of thousands is situated near the
base. |
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Some nongovernmental estimates say about 50,000 Haitians
sleep at night at the foot of this country club and golf
course estate that the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st
Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, now calls home.
The scene would be spectacular, with sweeping views of the
city to the east and the coastal sea to the west, but that
north are some of those hit hardest by last week's
earthquake. And many of those left homeless now are gathered
at the bottom of Foster's hill, waiting for help.
“I don't know how the day's going to shape up,” Foster said.
“I know that we're going to be busy. I know that we're going
to work real hard, and I'm confident that at the end of the
day when the sun goes down, we will have made a difference.”
Foster and his squadron of about 300 soldiers have been on
the ground less than two days and already have passed out
thousands of meals and bottles of water to the Haitians. At
the same time, they're fortifying the abandoned and damaged
estate into a military forward operating base.
Helicopters land constantly through the day on an open,
grassy spot on the hill, dumping more troops and supplies
from their bellies. Soldiers outline the perimeter. A gym
becomes a sleeping area. The racquetball courts store
troops' equipment. The swimming pool is lined with
rucksacks.
Yesterday, the troops made their initial aid drop. They
tried at first to move into the survivor camp to deliver the
food, but the handful of troops, led by Foster, quickly
became engulfed in a sea of screaming survivors. At the
sight of some relief, the crowd became excited, and it was
clear that the food could not be passed out in the camp. The
troops were forced to retreat up the hill, behind their
makeshift perimeter lined with white plastic lawn chairs.
Despite the initial chaos of the event, Foster called it a
success. Haitian volunteers came forward to organize the
distribution and to help in providing security.
“They were ones who got all of the kids up the hill and
brought them first, not us. I think that's an enormously
positive step,” Foster said. “The handful of times you may
have seen a guy or two want to get rowdy, they policed those
guys up themselves. I think that is very, very important to
how this continues to flow.”
While the soldiers may be on the front line of the fight for
survival, their first mission is to provide security and
help to pave the way for the tremendous amount of
humanitarian aid waiting to be pushed forward by
organizations around the globe. So as some passed out meals,
other troops started today interviewing local people,
helping to identify their needs, surveying the area and
feeding information back to higher headquarters that senior
officials will need to know to increase the amount of relief
in this area.
And with every helicopter that lands comes more troops, more
meals and more water.
“We never look away from one [mission] just to do the
other,” Foster said. “With the assets and capabilities I
have right now, I ask myself ‘Where can I make the most
good?' We're going to take every advantage of every
opportunity we can to put aid and relief and supplies on
anything that's coming in.
“At the end of the day, the intent is to get relief to the
Haitian people,” he said.
The need ranges from those who hardly were affected to those
whose lives were devastated. Some already have received aid,
others have not. Officials have to identify those who need
the aid most and get it to them first, Foster said.
“You don't want to turn it into a ‘survival of the fittest,'
where you find a place that's easy to drop off supplies so
you just continue to drop them off there,” he said. “The
rich in aid get richer. That's going to take some time to
fully understand.”
Medics also were out helping the injured today. One small
boy came forward with his head severely bandaged. The Army
medic worked to remove the crusted bandage to reveal the
boy's scarred head. The wounds were several, but healing.
“Tell the boy he is handsome, and will be just fine,” the
medical told the interpreter.
Today's distribution went much smoother, with the lines less
pushed, and flowing more evenly. It appeared, officials
said, that the Haitians realized the troops were here to
stay, and that if they cooperated, more aid will come.
Much of the calm also can be attributed to the manner in
which the soldiers take on their security duties. The
security is far from heavy-handed. The leaders here have
said they see no threat from the local people, and they try
to project that in their presence. Today, the soldiers were
told to sling their rifles across their back, rather than
holding them in the ready front position as is customary for
most of these battle-hardened soldiers.
Also, no orders are barked. Men are referred to as “Sir,”
and the women as “Ma'am.”
Yesterday, when the crowd became rowdy and tried to push
forward, the captain in charge told his troops simply to sit
down in the grass and stop passing out the meals. This
quieted the crowd, which quickly realized that if they did
not calm down, they would not any rations. |
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| Navy Petty Officer 2nd
Class Sandy Diogene, with the Maritime Civil
Affairs unit out of Little Creek, Va., talks
with Haitians waiting for food and water at a
forward operating base in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,
Jan. 16, 2010. Diogene was born in Haiti. |
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“Our guys bring a lot of experience in different kinds of
operations, so they know when they need to be more
aggressive or have different kind of approach to bring some
calm to the group,” said Army Maj. J.T. Eldridge, the
squadron operations officer.
“I think the most important thing is to present that sense
of calm -- the sense that we're here to help and we're going
to continue to help,” he said.
In the days after the quake, violence in some areas has
impeded such U.S. military relief efforts, Army Lt. Gen. P.K.
“Ken” Keen said. Keen, the top military commander in Haiti,
toured the operating base today, surveying the layout.
“Security is a fundamental part of humanitarian assistance.
You have to have a safe and secure environment in order to
be successful,” Keen said.
The general was in Haiti when the earthquake hit. He was
visiting the ambassador's house, he said. “It seemed like it
would never stop, and you could immediately tell this was
going to be a major challenge,” he said.
The general and the ambassador made their way out of the
home, and from their vantage point saw the first glimpse of
the damage left in its wake.
“We could see across the city and hear the screams and we
could tell from all the dust that this was a tremendous
tragedy,” he said.
Keen said he called officials at U.S. Southern Command right
then to ask for all the help they could deliver. The USS
Carl Vinson turned around immediately, making its way toward
Haiti.
Keen said he feels and understands the frustration of those
who want more aid now.
“Ideally, when daylight came up, we would have been doing
this,” Keen said referring to the soldiers handing out
water. “But this had to come from all over the world.”
Still, with three other such distribution sites set up
across the city, Keen said, what these soldiers are doing is
a perfect example of more to come.
“I am satisfied that we are doing everything we can to get
the supplies here as fast as we can and getting them to the
people,” he said. “I'm satisfied that we're doing everything
that we can.” | |
By
Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2010
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