View Full Version : TF Tsunami-teams enroute
Eagle5US
12-30-2004, 13:09
Task Force Tsunami-
FYI-
First teams enroute guys. Wheels up about 2 hours ago. Our unit has uniquely qualified folks-we will be the first US MIL bubbas on the ground from the US. Task Force 356 is being head up by 3MEF, we spun two teams up overnight and pushed them out this AM with Forensic Anthropologists, Mortuary Affairs, independant duty medics, and some onsies and twosies.
The Thai government specifically requested our help to determine which bodies were Asian, and which were Western. It seems that due to discoloration, decomp, and exposure many of the victims are currently unidentifiable.
We are spinning 3 additional teams up for Monday departure. You may see me (TV) or read my comments (Wa Post / NY Times/LA Times / AP)as I was pushing the info to most major news/wire networks during the pre-deployment phase. We are involved-in a big way.
The mission is anticipated to go on a 45-60 day rotation for our folks. Long term committment.
Just a bulliten.
Be thankful for our good fortune.
Eagle
Task Force Tsunami-
Be thankful for our good fortune.
Eagle
Indeed. Thank you for everything all of you do Eagle5US, my prayers are with all during this horrific tragedy.
Best of luck to all of you, Eagle.
Roguish Lawyer
12-30-2004, 14:19
Good luck, Eagle.
Jack Moroney (RIP)
12-30-2004, 15:23
Good luck.
Please make sure everyone observes universal procautions. Hepatitis C among other problems are out there and I know of several SF Guys that contracted it doing this same type of work. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I thought I might add a helpful reminder.
Be safe, good luck.
Ambush Master
12-30-2004, 16:08
What Doc says and do be careful !!
Ghostrider
12-30-2004, 20:52
Good luck and stay safe.
Basenshukai
12-30-2004, 21:15
Good luck and be careful.
NousDefionsDoc
12-30-2004, 21:43
http://www.digitalglobe.com/tsunami_gallery.html
Watch your ass over there.
Bill Harsey
12-30-2004, 21:56
Good link NDD.
Stay safe guys.
NousDefionsDoc
12-30-2004, 22:10
I want the T shirt (http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=51896117&cdi=0)
Eagle, brother! A case of single malt for the T Shirt. Not one like it, THAT one!
Spartan359
12-30-2004, 23:32
Good luck Eagle. I'll double NDD's bounty for the shirt. :D
alphamale
12-31-2004, 00:45
The scale of this tragedy is just unimaginable.
Best wishes for you and the teams, Eagle.
FrontSight
Godspeed Eagle and team....... watch your 6
A big thanks to you and your teams, Eagle.
Take care.
brownapple
12-31-2004, 05:41
A number of SFA3 guys down there providing what assistance they can. If we can help in any way, drop me a line and I'll pass it on to the boys down there.
More help on the way.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific Command Rallies Tsunami Relief Resources
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2004 — Three Marine Corps disaster relief assessment teams are on the ground or about to arrive in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and at least two P-3 aircraft are conducting initial reconnaissance of damaged areas as a wide range of other Defense Department assets works its way to tsunami-stricken regions of the Indian Ocean.
U.S. Pacific Command has marshaled assets ranging from carrier strike groups to water purification ships to aircraft to provide emergency support for victims following the Dec. 26 earthquake and subsequent tsunamis, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Conway, director of operations for the Joint Staff, told reporters today at a special State Department briefing.
Navy Adm. Tom Fargo, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, stood up Joint Task Force 536 to coordinate U.S. relief efforts, Conway said. A forward command element has moved into a military base at Utapao, Thailand, and the headquarters is in the process of deploying. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Rusty Blackman, commander of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force based in Okinawa, will command the joint task force.
Meanwhile, the first of three Marine disaster relief assessment teams being sent to the region arrived in Thailand earlier today and a second team was due to arrive in Sri Lanka this afternoon. A third team will arrive in Indonesia Dec. 30, Conway said.
In addition, U.S. Pacific Command has committed six C-130 aircraft and nine P-3 aircraft to the relief effort. Conway said all the C-130s and four of the P-3s will operate out of Utapao. Five other P-3 aircraft will operate out of Diego Garcia.
Conway said at least two of the P-3s already are conducting observation and reconnaissance of damaged sites.
In addition, the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which was in Hong Kong when the earthquake and tsunamis struck, has been diverted to the Gulf of Thailand to support recovery operations, Conway said.
Aircraft from the strike group are checking the Malacca Straits for debris before the strike group transits the area. "If it is clear — and early reports indicate it might be — the five ships associated with that carrier strike group will take position off the island of Sumatra," Conway said.
Conway said the Lincoln carrier strike group has 12 helicopters embarked that he said could be "extremely valuable" in recovery missions.
An additional 25 helicopters are aboard USS Bonhomme Richard, headed to the Bay of Bengal. Conway said the expeditionary strike group was in Guam and is forgoing port visits in Guam and Singapore and expects to arrive in the Bay of Bengal by Jan. 7.
Conway said the strike group, with its seven ships, 2,100 Marines and 1,400 sailors aboard, also has four Cobra helicopters that will be instrumented in reconnaissance efforts.
Because fresh water is one of the greatest needs in the region, Fargo has ordered seven ships — each capable of producing 90,000 gallons of fresh water a day — to the region. Conway said five of these ships are pre-positioned in Guam and two will come from Diego Garcia.
A field hospital ship pre-positioned in Guam would also be ordered to the region, depending on findings of the disaster relief assessment teams and need, Conway said.
The U.S. State Department is leading U.S. support for the relief effort. Marc Grossman, undersecretary of state for political affairs, is leading the U.S. task force formed today to respond to the crisis.
Grossman said the task force will work with the regional core group, made up of Australia, Japan and India, to provide coordination and assistance. It also will help coordinate the interagency response in Washington, D.C., and encourage additional international support for the relief effort, he said.
"This is going to be a giant international requirement. Although we make a substantial contribution — more than anyone else in these emergencies — this is certainly not for us to do alone," Grossman said. "It is going to take a worldwide effort. We would expect and hope and believe the world will respond."
But Andrew Natsios, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, stressed that "the principal responders in humanitarian emergencies are the people themselves who live there." This, he said, includes local officials who are in charge of responding and the national disaster response teams "who speak the language, have the maps, know the transportation system."
Natsios acknowledged that these groups can sometimes get overwhelmed by the scope of a crisis and need help.
"We need to not think that these people are all paralyzed and can't help themselves, and we go in there and save them all," Natsios said. "We know that most of the best work is done by the people themselves. Our job is to support the people in the cities and in the villages who will begin the reconstruction process. So we are not there to tell them what to do, but to ask them how we can help."
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2004/n12292004_2004122905.html
God speed and good luck, Eagle.
Now they are talking numbers of 400,000 dead in Indonesia
Indonesia body count rising (http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=111574)
brownapple
12-31-2004, 09:27
The U.S. State Department is leading U.S. support for the relief effort. Marc Grossman, undersecretary of state for political affairs, is leading the U.S. task force formed today to respond to the crisis.
To date, the State Department's "lead" has been embarassing. Here in Thailand, the US Embassy has been among the worst in response, a noticable failing especially considering they have access to significantly more resources than any other embassy.
Roguish Lawyer
12-31-2004, 12:16
I want the T shirt (http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=51896117&cdi=0)
Eagle, brother! A case of single malt for the T Shirt. Not one like it, THAT one!
I'll triple it if you beat the shit out of the guy before taking the shirt from him. :D
NousDefionsDoc
12-31-2004, 12:25
I'll triple it if you beat the shit out of the guy before taking the shirt from him. :D
It's pretty much a given that SF guys weren't going to ask him nicely for it counselor. :p
Eagle5US
12-31-2004, 12:44
I'll be certain to forward the photo of said Bin Loser supporter with the aforementioned bounty.
Update:
Our teams are in place and working-one night spent in U'tapao, then the split:
1 went to Phuket, the other to the "Indonesian Islands". No sitrep on the conditions they are faced with yet.
Three additional teams on for launch Monday evening:
Sri Lanka is their primary destination, secondary destinations not yet determined.
This effort will be a lasting one. I can see where the guys from CHIII would have a tremendous amount to offer. Guys, stay safe, drink CLEAN WATER, and wash your hand...a lot.
Eagle
brownapple
12-31-2004, 19:21
This effort will be a lasting one. I can see where the guys from CHIII would have a tremendous amount to offer. Guys, stay safe, drink CLEAN WATER, and wash your hand...a lot.
Will pass it on.
I've been around quite awhile now...... 57.... and in my lifetime I've never seen anything this destructive, nature wise.... should say manmade or natural. Only two events I can think of would be Krakatoa (circa 1830) or perhaps Vesuvios. Ancient history..... main thing is stay safe and the World should thank people like you and that unit.......
Basenshukai
01-02-2005, 17:51
I wonder how much aid is Al Quaeda pledging to help their "brethren"? I have a guess that the figure will be ZERO.
It's pretty much a given that SF guys weren't going to ask him nicely for it counselor. :p
The Reaper
01-02-2005, 17:52
I wonder how much aid is Al Quaeda pledging to help their "brethren"? I have a guess that the figure will be ZERO.
Thought the same thing when I saw the guy in the t-shirt.
Tell him to get his help from his boy Osama.
TR
alphamale
01-02-2005, 18:37
With Tsunami's, there's no such thing as predictability? Even some?
The Reaper
01-02-2005, 18:54
With Tsunami's, there's no such thing as predictability? Even some?
Yes, there is.
If you have a seismic incident (like an earthquake) underwater, you may have a tsunami afterwards, like ripples on a pond after you toss in a pebble.
That one was not that big.
Alaska in 1958 supposedly had one 1700 feet high.
I lived on the North Shore of Oahu, that was my biggest worry.
Not much you can do about it after the event occurs except head for the high ground if you hear the alert.
TR
brownapple
01-03-2005, 05:36
All SFA members can expect a message from SFA Chapter 3 in the next few days. We have identified an area where we think we can provide assistance to Thais that is currently being overlooked.