By Geoff Fein
As the Marine Corps continues to make a case for sea basing, service officials can point to the ongoing humanitarian assistance operations in Haiti as proof that the concept works.
Last week, Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee the Marine Corps has approximately 1.900 Marines on the ground in Haiti supported by seven ships, three of which are assigned to the 22 Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). In the early phases of Operation Unified Response, the Marine Corps had 23 percent of its amphibious inventory supporting the earthquake relief effort, Maj. Gen. Cornell Wilson, deputy commander, U. S. Marine Corps Forces Command; and commander, United States Marine Corps Forces South, told Defense Daily recently.
The magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Haiti Jan. 12 destroyed much of the nation’s infrastructure in and around Logane. Complicating matters was the extensive damage done to Port-au-Prince. The airport had only one available runway, Wilson noted, and flights had to be carefully coordinated between U.S. military and other nations delivering aid. Direct water access into Port-Au-Prince was also denied because of the devastation, he added.
‘[Marines] were able to land on the beach and secure distribution of aid,” Wilson said. “Having a sea base gives you more flexibility to bring in additional equipment and supplies, rather than overcrowding the airfield.”
Along with the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) bringing supplies and equipment ashore and Ospreys running intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations to get a scope of the damage, the Marines were able to bring injured Haitians aboard amphibs for medical care, Wilson added.
“Having the large deck carriers helped us make sure we could get the injured and sick people out,” he said. “It’s been a strong capability. It’s a very helpful piece to have that capability on those ships.”
The Navy and Marine Corps responded to the crisis with a bevy of vessels including the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), USS Bataan (LHD-5), USS Gunston Hall (LSD- 44), USS Nassau (LHD-4), USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19) and the USS Normandy (CG-60).
Having the capability that amphibious ships brings–well decks and flight decks–enabled the Marine Corps to launch supplies and establish command and control, Wilson said.
“Having the capability allows us to off-load away from shore,” he said. And, thus, this avoid having to come in close to land, for example, to unload equipment and supplies during combat operations.
The Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) 22 MEU, which arrived on Jan. 19, included four ships and 2,000 Marines, along with three LCACs, three Landing Craft Utility (LCU), eight CH-53s, four UH-1Ns, eight Light Armored Vehicles (LAV) and 10 Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAVs). On the first day, the Bataan ARG delivered 750 gallons of water and 4,185 pounds of food ashore, Wilson said.
As of Feb. 21, the Marines have distributed to earthquake survivors 2.6 million bottles of water, 2.2 million humanitarian rations, 149,045 pounds of medical supplies, and 17 million pounds of bulk food.
A few days after the arrival of the 22 MEU, the Nassau ARG with the 24 MEU arrived to lend support to the Bataan ARG, Wilson said.
“They are conducting recon and assessment of areas, providing some supplies to the people of Haiti as well,” he said.
The Nassau ARG and the 24 MEU came equipped with MV-22 Ospreys built by a Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT]-Boeing [BA] team.
“That’s the first time we’ve done humanitarian-disaster relief with an Osprey,” Wilson said. “They used it to do assessments north of Port-au-Prince where no one had gone to assess [the damage] yet.”
Ospreys were also able to provide information on areas not as badly damaged as Port-au-Prince. And the tiltrotor crews also delivered supplies as they were assessing the devastation across the island nation, he added.
While the Marine Corps is still gathering lessons learned, Wilson noted the Corps did learn just how capable the operation was with the addition of the Ospreys.
For example, the MV-22 was able to respond out to areas of the country where masses of people were expected to move as they left Port-au-Prince, Wilson said. “We wanted to be able to identify mass migration if it occurred.”
Wilson also noted the capability newer ships, such as the Mesa Verde, brought to the mission.
“The ships that we are getting now are very, very capable. They allow us to do more than we have before,” he said.
The ships provide increased tonnage of supplies that allow the ARG MEU team to be, essentially, very powerful first responders, Wilson said.
“They are very flexible, versatile, very powerful teams to support something no matter what it may be, very rapidly, and certainly within the guidance of our national command authority,” he said. “Having the capability we have, to provide them support rapidly, has made a difference to get the recovery process moving along pretty well.”