By Jim Garamone of American Forces Press Service ABOARD THE USNS COMFORT : In a life-saving move, a Navy helicopter transported two severely injured Haitians to receive treatment aboard this hospital ship.
"The senior medical officer sent the patients on to receive care with us," said Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Tim Donahue, the Comfort's chief of surgery. Both were in critical condition. The 20-year-old patient has a broken skull and possibly a fractured cervical vertebrae. Doctors aboard the Vinson also suspected there might be bleeding inside his skull. The 6-year-old patient has a crushed pelvis and possible damage to his bladder and urethra. At 10:24 p.m., the call came to casualty receiving: "Helos on deck." Stretcher bearers removed the patients from the Vinson's chopper and moved them via elevator to the receiving area. The patients were met by a phalanx of doctors, nurses and corpsmen and placed in an assessment area. The sailors went about their duties professionally and quietly. The boy was conscious and able to answer questions. A Haitian-American servicemember – Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Yves Henry – translated the doctor's questions to the boy and his answers back. The boy had undergone surgery aboard the Vinson two days before. The medics aboard the Vinson sent him to the Comfort to take advantage of the expertise and equipment aboard the vessel. The other patient had a tube inserted in his throat and could not speak. Doctors took X-rays of him on the gurney and then moved him to another area to receive a CAT scan. After the initial rush, Donahue spoke to press who observed the procedure. The chief of surgery was pleased with the performance of the medics. "It's quiet," he said. "That means they are talking and communicating well. Everything went very smoothly." Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) William Todd, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, said the 6-year-old could move his hips and did not present symptoms of complications. "He's a tough little boy," Todd said. "It's probably pain from the previous surgery." Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Shawn Safford was the general surgeon who examined the young man. "He was very alert," he said. "He has a slight fever, but we will treat that. We will watch him for a few days to ensure it is going well." The boy knows his father's cell phone number, but not what happened to him, his mother or his brother. "He was scared and was reaching for my hand," Safford said. "Just holding a kid's hand is sometimes the best medicine." (Issued on :Jan 20, 2010) Both Haitian patients are in the Comfort's intensive care unit. | ||||
| Related Sites: USNS Comfort USNS Comfort on Twitter Special Report: Haiti Earthquake Relief | ||||
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Thursday, January 21, 2010
Comfort Receives First Haitian Patients
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
USNS Comfort Prepares for All Eventualities in Haiti
By Jim Garamone of American Forces Press ServiceABOARD THE USNS COMFORT : Haiti sounds like the seventh level of hell now, and the crew and medical staff of this hospital ship is preparing to enter it.
Red Cross officials estimate that between 50,000 and 100,000 people are dead, with thousands more injured. Government offices were damaged or destroyed in the quake, and local control is tenuous at best, non-existent in most places. Government officials and police are victims just as any other Haitian in this crisis. Food and fresh water is limited and entirely dependent on humanitarian efforts now. Violence and looting also has occurred in the capital, throwing many plans out the window. The Military Sealift Command crew is driving the Comfort as fast as they safely can. They know time means lives and they are working to ensure no moment is wasted. The humanitarian crisis also drives the medical staff as they prepare to receive casualties as soon as possible. Plans now are for the Comfort to moor in the harbor of Port-au-Prince – as it did during a humanitarian exercise last year. The area is near what's left of the United Nations compound. Depending on the security environment, Officials plan to send medical detachments ashore to help in casualty evaluation. The ship has mobile security teams embarked, to provide force protection for the ship and deployed teams. They also will coordinate with U.S. forces already on the island. Aboard the Comfort, staff members are ensuring medical supplies and equipment are where they need to be. Medical planners expect crush wounds and burn injuries to predominate, and are setting up accordingly. The ship is setting up 11 operating rooms, with eight expected to be working as soon as the ship reaches its station. Medics are setting up wards and holding drills. Specialists tested casualty flow procedures through the ship this morning from the flight deck to patient admission to the operating rooms to the intensive care wards to regular patient wards. Other specialists are ensuring that the equipment works properly and procedures are in place so X-rays, for example, are produced and read quickly. The pharmacy is readying to ensure the correct medications go to the right patients and the laboratory is ensuring the right tests are performed and matched to those who need them. The crew also is working to absorb an expected influx of 350 more personnel. About 250 will be medical staff, and 100 are support personnel. This will allow the hospital ship to increase the number of patient beds and man all the operating rooms. Other health safety personnel are infusing uniforms with prometherin – an insect repellent to ward off mosquitos that carry malaria.(Issued on Jan 18, 2010) Note : The ship is scheduled to arrive in Haiti Jan. 21. | ||||
| Related Sites: Special Report: Haiti Earthquake Relief | ||||
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Monday, January 18, 2010
New York City Task Force
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| New York City Task Force 1 (NY-TF1) personnel prepare for a flight to Haiti from Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y., Jan. 16, 2010. The NY-TF1 will conduct search and rescue operations in Haiti. (DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. Michael O'Halloran, U.S. Air Force/Released) | |
| VIRIN: 100116-F-5995O-027 |  |
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Airborne Troops Provide First Glimpse of Relief
By Fred W. Baker III of American Forces Press Service TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Port-au-Prince, Haiti : Hundreds of 82nd Airborne Division troops from Fort Bragg, N.C., arrived here overnight in the first wave of putting a substantial U.S. military relief effort in place in the wake of this week's devastating earthquake.
Air Force C-17s started hauling troops and equipment from the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment yesterday, with the rest of the 800 or so soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team being delivered by ongoing flights through the night. The planes were packed making use of every square inch of space. Soldiers stacked in with military vehicles, water and other equipment and supplies. With the airport here maxed out on its ability to manage the number of flights coming in and out, officials wanted to waste neither time or space. "Air planes are stacked up the 'wazoo' up there trying to get down here," one colonel said just before his troops exited the C17. The military flights were delayed somewhat yesterday simply because of the limited capacity of the airport. It is, however, running 24-hour operations with flights coming in from around the world as nations reach out to one of the globe's poorest countries. Army Maj. Larry Jordan, with 1st Squadron, 73rd Infantry Regiment, was on the ground yesterday surveying where the incoming troops would go. Most of the troops here were sleeping under the stars. A handful of tents were scattered about. For the most part there is no running water or electricity. Right now, the troops are tasked with paving the way for the massive amounts of humanitarian aid coming to reach the communities safely. They provide airport security and a detachment watches over the embassy. Locals waved at the military helicopters flying over the city today. Acres of tin-roofed shanties were flattened. Toward the mountains, closer to the main impact of the quake, larger buildings had collapsed. Most of the houses are built near or connected to each other so entire blocks were collectively crushed. "The devastation is absolutely amazing," Jordan said. Many survivors have set up camps out in the open football-field sized areas. Brightly-colored tarps provide cover for them and the few personal items they were able to recover from the wreckage. Still, Jordan said that he did not see a lot of crime or looting in the neighborhoods he visited. He also said several Haitian police, both local and national, out in the streets. "It was not the wild, wild west. There were not gangs of lawless machete wielders running around all over the place," he said. Jordan did see a lot of locals trying to continue clearing the buildings, removing rubble, and cleaning the streets. In some of the places he was the first uniformed personnel, providing a sense of hope for relief, Jordan said. Today, the troops are moving out into forward operating bases in the city. Once their bases are established they will begin moving into the cities to help set up the security to deliver humanitarian aid, officials said. | ||||||||||
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Saturday, January 16, 2010
Guided-missile destroyer
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| Guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) is under way off the coast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 15, 2010. Aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and Carrier Air Wing 17 are conducting humanitarian and disaster relief operations after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake caused severe damage near Port-au-Prince Jan 12, 2010. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Stephen G. Hale II, U.S. Navy/Released) | |
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U.S. Sailors assigned
Friday, January 15, 2010
Pentagon Honors Civil Rights Leader's Legacy
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden of American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today challenged the Defense Department and all Americans to honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy during a Pentagon observance in advance of the Jan. 18 holiday that marks the civil rights leader's birth. .
King spent his life advocating for equality and eventually became a world figure in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The Baptist minister led peaceful demonstrations and marches throughout the country and gave thousands of memorable speeches until his assassination in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. The path of service and equality led by King paved way for desegregation and better opportunities, not just for African Americans, but for all citizens. He sought a society "founded and fueled on equality, justice, dignity, freedom and strength that can come only from being a truly united country," Gates said. The secretary noted that King's efforts continue to break down barriers even today. In the past two years, the nation has celebrated 60 years of desegregation in the armed forces and witnessed the election of the first black U.S. president. Gates cited prominent African-American military officers as examples of the opportunities King and the civil rights movement provided. He noted Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, commander of U.S. Africa Command; Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, director of the Joint Staff; and Air Force Maj. Gen. Darren W. McDew, vice director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Staff, for their examples. "These officers represent the very best our nation has to offer, and I'm truly thankful that they chose to serve and defend our country," Gates said. The men and women who serve throughout the Defense Department are "ordinary Americans from all walks of life and backgrounds, [and] have put themselves in harm's way ... to confront those who would attack the ideals that Dr. King espoused." Their sacrifices have been made willingly on behalf of all Americans and speak volumes to their character and King's work, Gates said. Still, the secretary said, it's important to continue furthering King's principles and what he ultimately died trying to preserve. "Progress is neither automatic nor inevitable," Gates said, quoting King. "Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle." The Martin Luther King federal holiday was signed into law in 1983 and was first observed in 1986. The holiday is observed on the third Monday in January each year, around the time of King's birthday, Jan. 15. (Issued on : Jan 14, 2010) | ||||
| Biographies: Robert M. Gates | ||||
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
U.S. Coast Guard cutters sit offshore near Haiti
Guided-Missile Destroyer
U.S. Navy Cmdr. Mike McCartney, the commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93), gives a tour of the forecastle of the ship to Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsuya Okada Jan. 11, 2010, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. While in Hawaii, Okada met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to discuss the movement of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, the expansion of the Japanese and U.S. security alliance, the war in Afghanistan and North Korea’s nuclear programs. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Mark Logico, U.S. Navy)
Engineers Wire Up New Living Areas in Iraq
By Army Staff Sgt. April Mota Special to American Forces Press Service BAGHDAD : Soldiers from 317th Engineer Company and 808th Engineer Company are providing electricity to the future living spaces of U.S. forces as they prepare to hand off their current housing to the Iraqi army.
The engineers are busy digging ditches, upgrading electrical boxes, burying cables and connecting boxes to generators that provide housing units with electricity. The new housing units will allow the U.S. soldiers to vacate the space their Iraqi counterparts plan to use as they continue toward independent operations. Army Sgt. 1st Class Theodore Blanford of 1434th Engineer Company, who is responsible for some of the work done by the soldiers of 317th Engineer Company, said he was impressed with the soldiers' hard work. The most time-consuming part of the project was digging the ditches to bury the wires leading from the generator to the electrical boxes. The soldiers dug more than 60 feet of trenches by hand to conceal the cable. Wiring the electrical boxes correctly is paramount in ensuring the quarters are safe, said Army Spc. Josue Delgado of San Antonio, who serves with 808th Engineer Company. "We had to make sure the boxes didn't piggyback off each other," he explained. "They all have their own electric supply, [and] they are all routed and grounded properly, which is important. This makes sure there are no fire hazards." Another challenging aspect of the project, Delgado said, was salvaging electrical boxes. "The electrical boxes we used came from the [scrap yard]," he said. "We had to pick through, find proper boxes, then drill holes in the bottoms of the boxes to feed the wire through." Creating housing to relocate the 10th Mountain Division soldiers is a vital part of U.S. forces handing responsibility to the Iraqi army at Carver, Delgado said. (Army Staff Sgt. April Mota serves in U.S. Division Center with 101st Engineer Battalion, 16th Engineer Brigade.) | ||||
| Related Sites: U.S. Forces Iraq | ||||
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Extraction exercise with a Marine Corps
U.S. Air Force pararescuemen conduct a combat insertion and extraction exercise with a Marine Corps CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter attached to Heavy Marine Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 464 in Djibouti Jan. 5, 2010. The two units are deployed to Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa. (DoD photo by Master Sgt. Jeremiah Erickson, U.S. Air Force/Released)
Monday, January 11, 2010
Soldiers Bring Electronic Banking to Iraq
By Army Capt. Randy J. Michael
Special to American Forces Press Service
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, (Iraq) : Iraq may not be ready for PayPal, but with the help of the U.S. Army, the southern Iraqi provinces of Dhi Qar, Maysan and Al Muthanna are moving closer to a cashless system in order to deal with the mounting costs of dealing with cash.
Task Force Pathfinder is increasing its use of electronic funds transfer as a better way to pay local contractors and vendors instead of in stacks of Iraqi dinar. The transactions are part of the unit's role aiding the State Department's Provincial Reconstruction Teams as they build up the Iraqi civilian infrastructure.
Officials are pursuing the change to electronic transfers as a way to save money and reduce the security risks associated with transporting funds. Also, they say, electronic transfers increase public confidence in the Iraqi banking system, which gets a boost with every deposit.
Today, the U.S. Army brings an estimated $42 million in currency into Iraq and Afghanistan monthly, down from $192 million per month this time last year and as much as $400 million a month in 2003. With the development of new banks, including one nearing completion on base here, transferring funds electronically is becoming the preferred method of payment.
When paying for reconstruction projects with hard currency, the cost to the Army is about $32 per payment – nearly all of which goes to security costs -- compared to $2.50 per electronic transaction. Changing to an all-electronic transfer system of payments is expected to save the Army about $20 million annually.
Task Force Pathfinder's paying agents have handled more than $14 million in both dinar and electronic disbursements with local contractors and vendors in Maysan, Al Muthanna and Dhi Qar provinces in the past eight months. Another $21 million is approved and pending future payments for local humanitarian assistance projects. Most of this is to be paid via electronic transfer.
The Army would like to move to electronic money transfers for reconstruction contracts, but it isn't easy convincing Iraqi businessmen that an electronic receipt is going to pay them when they always have received bundles of cash. Contractors need reassurance that the process works. That means both soldiers and program managers must be well versed in the process and understand everyone's responsibility to ensure efficiency.
1st Lt. Andrew King, a disbursing agent with the 33rd Finance Management Company, explained the electronic process.
"We process the [payment] request and send it up within the first 24 to 48 hours," he said. "Then, Baghdad releases a voucher number. At this point, it takes five to seven days for the payment to reach the contractor's account."
Not only is the finance company a resource, but there also is an EFT Assistance Center, created and funded by the task force to serve as a help desk to stakeholders in Iraq's newly introduced payments system.
Since October 2008, the assistance center has resolved more than 150 payment problems totaling more than $15 million. The center also, provides monthly statistical analysis of the most common electronic payment problems within Iraq, and communicates the causes to Joint Contracting Command-Iraq, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, and other agencies.
The Army is working toward going cashless within the year for contracts with local vendors, Brig. Gen. Phillip E. McGhee, director of resource management for U.S. Army Central Command, said.
As Task Force Pathfinder soldiers continue their efforts to build civil capacity in southern Iraq, "the transition to electronic funds transfers is a welcomed sign of progress that has the added benefit of saving the U.S. government money," added Lt. Col. Mike Eastman, task force commander.
(Army Capt. Randy J. Michael serves with 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division public affairs.)
Related Sites:
U.S. Forces Iraq
Special to American Forces Press Service
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, (Iraq) : Iraq may not be ready for PayPal, but with the help of the U.S. Army, the southern Iraqi provinces of Dhi Qar, Maysan and Al Muthanna are moving closer to a cashless system in order to deal with the mounting costs of dealing with cash.
Officials are pursuing the change to electronic transfers as a way to save money and reduce the security risks associated with transporting funds. Also, they say, electronic transfers increase public confidence in the Iraqi banking system, which gets a boost with every deposit.
Today, the U.S. Army brings an estimated $42 million in currency into Iraq and Afghanistan monthly, down from $192 million per month this time last year and as much as $400 million a month in 2003. With the development of new banks, including one nearing completion on base here, transferring funds electronically is becoming the preferred method of payment.
When paying for reconstruction projects with hard currency, the cost to the Army is about $32 per payment – nearly all of which goes to security costs -- compared to $2.50 per electronic transaction. Changing to an all-electronic transfer system of payments is expected to save the Army about $20 million annually.
Task Force Pathfinder's paying agents have handled more than $14 million in both dinar and electronic disbursements with local contractors and vendors in Maysan, Al Muthanna and Dhi Qar provinces in the past eight months. Another $21 million is approved and pending future payments for local humanitarian assistance projects. Most of this is to be paid via electronic transfer.
The Army would like to move to electronic money transfers for reconstruction contracts, but it isn't easy convincing Iraqi businessmen that an electronic receipt is going to pay them when they always have received bundles of cash. Contractors need reassurance that the process works. That means both soldiers and program managers must be well versed in the process and understand everyone's responsibility to ensure efficiency.
1st Lt. Andrew King, a disbursing agent with the 33rd Finance Management Company, explained the electronic process.
"We process the [payment] request and send it up within the first 24 to 48 hours," he said. "Then, Baghdad releases a voucher number. At this point, it takes five to seven days for the payment to reach the contractor's account."
Not only is the finance company a resource, but there also is an EFT Assistance Center, created and funded by the task force to serve as a help desk to stakeholders in Iraq's newly introduced payments system.
Since October 2008, the assistance center has resolved more than 150 payment problems totaling more than $15 million. The center also, provides monthly statistical analysis of the most common electronic payment problems within Iraq, and communicates the causes to Joint Contracting Command-Iraq, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, and other agencies.
The Army is working toward going cashless within the year for contracts with local vendors, Brig. Gen. Phillip E. McGhee, director of resource management for U.S. Army Central Command, said.
As Task Force Pathfinder soldiers continue their efforts to build civil capacity in southern Iraq, "the transition to electronic funds transfers is a welcomed sign of progress that has the added benefit of saving the U.S. government money," added Lt. Col. Mike Eastman, task force commander.
(Army Capt. Randy J. Michael serves with 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division public affairs.)
Related Sites:
U.S. Forces Iraq
 | Army 1st Lt. Adam Marquis and Navy Lt. j.g. Christopher Deluzio, both assigned to Task Force Pathfinder, inspect the progress made on an electrical project in Dhi Qar province. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Aaron Brooks Download screen-resolution Download high-resolution |
Friday, January 08, 2010
Security from inside a Stryker armored vehicle
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Face of Defense: Sons Follow in Father's Footsteps
By Army Sgt. Neil Gussman
Special to American Forces Press Service
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq : Any parent whose child follows him into his profession will feel pride.
A Pennsylvania National Guard soldier here can be doubly proud, then, as one son has followed in his military footsteps while another is pursuing his civilian career.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Gary Williard of Company D, Task Force Diablo, is a retired police officer and an Army National Guard aircraft maintenance platoon sergeant.
His older son, Gary Jr., joined the Tower City Police Force in Pennsylvania, where his father retired in 2006 as chief of police. Williard's younger son, Army Sgt. Joshua Williard of 628th Aviation Support Battalion's Company B, worked in the next hangar over from his dad during much of their recent deployment here and is now completing his deployment with final processing in the United States.
"I pinned on Joshua's sergeant stripes when he got promoted here on Aug. 27," Williad said. "That was quite a moment for me."
Williard began his military career in 1976 as a propeller and rotor mechanic for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. After a break in service from 1982 to 1990, he returned to the Guard and has worked in maintenance on many aircraft. His younger son said he plans on a career in aviation maintenance with the Army National Guard.
Gary Jr. worked for his father for five years in the Tower City Police Department before moving to the Pennsylvania State Police, where he has worked for seven years.
Williard and his wife, Dina, ran an automotive repair business together. Now they own rental apartments.
"Dina runs the apartments while I am away," Williard said. "With Joshua and I deployed and Gary Jr. busy with work, she'll be very happy for us to come home."
Williard deployed from 2003 to 2004 to Kuwait in both aviation maintenance and security roles.
"Even on deployment, I was still a cop," he said.
(Army Sgt. Neil Gussman serves with Task Force Diablo.)
Related Sites:
U.S. Forces Iraq
Special to American Forces Press Service
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq : Any parent whose child follows him into his profession will feel pride.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Gary Williard of Company D, Task Force Diablo, is a retired police officer and an Army National Guard aircraft maintenance platoon sergeant.
His older son, Gary Jr., joined the Tower City Police Force in Pennsylvania, where his father retired in 2006 as chief of police. Williard's younger son, Army Sgt. Joshua Williard of 628th Aviation Support Battalion's Company B, worked in the next hangar over from his dad during much of their recent deployment here and is now completing his deployment with final processing in the United States.
"I pinned on Joshua's sergeant stripes when he got promoted here on Aug. 27," Williad said. "That was quite a moment for me."
Williard began his military career in 1976 as a propeller and rotor mechanic for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. After a break in service from 1982 to 1990, he returned to the Guard and has worked in maintenance on many aircraft. His younger son said he plans on a career in aviation maintenance with the Army National Guard.
Gary Jr. worked for his father for five years in the Tower City Police Department before moving to the Pennsylvania State Police, where he has worked for seven years.
Williard and his wife, Dina, ran an automotive repair business together. Now they own rental apartments.
"Dina runs the apartments while I am away," Williard said. "With Joshua and I deployed and Gary Jr. busy with work, she'll be very happy for us to come home."
Williard deployed from 2003 to 2004 to Kuwait in both aviation maintenance and security roles.
"Even on deployment, I was still a cop," he said.
(Army Sgt. Neil Gussman serves with Task Force Diablo.)
Related Sites:
U.S. Forces Iraq
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