U.S. Military Coordinates Humanitarian Assistance Efforts
Admiral Timothy Keating, commander, United States Pacific Command, traveled aboard the first U.S. relief flight into Burma this week, delivering much-needed supplies in the wake of Cyclone Nargis.
From left: Admiral Timothy Keating, commander, United States Pacific Command; Ambassador to Thailand, Eric Johns; and Henrietta Ford, administrator/director of USAID at a news conference in Thailand. U.S. Marine Corps photo: Lance Cpl. Robert Harding.
In addition to the supplies, Admiral Keating also delivered a personal letter to the ruling junta, asking the prime minister to allow additional aid.
As of May 15, the Department of Defense reported the United States has flown 13 flights into the region, carrying 313,000 pounds of water, blankets, hygiene kits, plastic sheeting, mosquito netting and food.
In a news conference from Pataya, Thailand, Admiral Keating described U.S. military assets on standby to assist, including six C-130 aircraft at a staging area at Utapao air base, about a half-dozen CH-53 Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters and several CH-46 Sea Knight medium-lift helicopters.
Defenselink.mil reported the "USS Essex, USS Harpers Ferry, USS Mustin and USS Juneau arrived in the Bay of Bengal early [Tuesday] morning. Aboard them are 10 more CH-46s, four to six CH-53s and more than 14,000 five-gallon plastic bladders filled with fresh water."
In addition to assistance already underway in Burma, the U.S. military is also assisting with relief efforts in China following Monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake and Friday's 5.9-magnitude aftershock. Two Hawai`i-based C-17 cargo jets were dispatched to transport emergency supplies to Chengdu, China.
-
Visit the U.S. Pacific Command website for special coverage of Burma relief efforts.
RSS Feeds
Multimedia(Video/Audio/Photos)