Photos: US Military And Pakistan Flood Relief

[Solomon2]

Pakistani flood victims depart in a Navy Sea Dragon helicopter during humanitarian relief efforts in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, Aug. 21, 2010. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Duncan

100821-M-3497D-437 KHYBER-PAKHTUNKHWA, PROVINCE, Pakistan (Aug. 21, 2010) A U.S. Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 15, Detachment 2, conducts heavy lift missions during relief efforts in Pakistan. HM-15 is embarked aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) supporting the Pakistan government and military with heavy lift capabilities in flooded regions of Pakistan. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Duncan/Released)

U.S. Sailors help Pakistani soldiers load relief supplies on a Navy Sea Dragon during humanitarian relief efforts in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan, Aug. 21, 2010. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Duncan

Pakistani flood victims board a Navy Sea Dragon during humanitarian relief efforts in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, Aug. 21, 2010. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Duncan



Navy Choppers Provide Aid to Pakistani Flood Victims

By Ian Graham
Emerging Media, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2010 – As flooding continues to plague Pakistan, the U.S. Navy is providing helicopters from a detachment in Bahrain to carry supplies into the stricken country’s Swat valley.

Members of the Navy’s Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 Detachment 2 spoke in a “DoD Live” bloggers roundtable today to explain the ins and outs of their mission.

To date, the U.S. has pledged to provide more than $76 million in assistance to flood-affected people in Pakistan. Twenty-two U.S. military and civilian aircraft are in Pakistan in support of flood relief operations. U.S. helicopters have evacuated more than 5,000 people and delivered more than 500,000 pounds of relief supplies.

In addition, U.S. military cargo aircraft based in Afghanistan have transported more than 268,000 pounds of international aid from the Pakistani air force’s central flood relief cell in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, to other locations throughout the country.

In the past five days, HM-15 and its MH-53E “Sea Dragon” aircraft have been able to evacuate more than 1,600 people and deliver more than 271,000 pounds of food and other relief supplies. The unit has been at Ghazi Air Base for a week, but rain and cloud cover limited their ability to get to the people in Swat.

Navy Lt. Sean Snyder, one of HM-15’s pilots, said the high altitudes have been difficult to get accustomed to. The aircraft responds differently to the thinner air at higher altitudes, he explained, so controlling the helicopter under a full load has been harder than it would be regularly.

“It’s been a challenge getting the mission done every day,” he said. “Had it been a sea-level situation, we probably could have doubled [the amount of evacuations and deliveries].”

Although Snyder and crew member Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Kevin Strickhouser operate only in one area, they said the widespread damage has been apparent as they fly over the country. The fact that the United Nations is pressing for more aid and more organizations are rallying to help the country is heartening, they said.

HM-15 is doing fine moving things, Strickhouser said, but any more help would be appreciated.

“Anything anybody can send won’t be enough to stop the suffering that people are going through right now; I don’t think that there’s anything that can be done [to fix things right away],” Snyder said. “The more they can provide, so the assets can be spread out to help the whole country, would be very useful.”

Snyder said his crew and the other MH-53E’s crew from HM-15 have been working tirelessly to carry food and get as many people out of harm’s way as possible. Usually, Snyder said, about five trips to and from the valley can be made daily by each aircraft.

Though concerns have been raised that the Taliban in the area may somehow be using the flood to their advantage by helping people as a recruitment tool, there’s no indication the insurgents are providing assistance, Snyder said.

“Other than what we’re taking in and what the Pakistani government is providing, I haven’t seen any other groups doing any assistance,” Snyder said, adding that he has seen nothing of the Taliban firsthand or anecdotally. “People from the World Food Program are here, but I haven’t seen anything else.”

Strickhouser added that there has been little disruption of any kind to missions beyond the bad weather on their arrival. The Pakistani army is providing security and has landing zones prepared for U.S. aircraft, and generally the people waiting for aid have been orderly outside the established landing perimeter.

“We’re only there for a short period of time before they take off, so they don’t see a lot on the ground throughout the day,” he said, “but there haven’t been any problems. The only people who approach the aircraft are there to get the food we’re bringing, and they take it to the others outside our perimeter.”

Meanwhile, Snyder and Strickhouser said, members of the U.S. military, the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and a collection of nongovernment organizations continue to provide assistance to stricken Pakistanis.

“The Pakistani government determines where they need U.S. aid, and then the U.S. decides if they’re able to help there with the equipment they have,” Strickhouser said.

U.S. Focuses on Rescue, Flood Relief in Pakistan

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2010 – Beyond the mind-boggling personal toll of Pakistan’s monsoon floods – with 20 million people affected and 4 million made homeless – there’s also a strategic impact, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan said today.

“We're not oblivious to the political and security implications of this,” U.S. Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke acknowledged during an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“Pakistan is not just another country that's been hammered by a tragedy,” Holbrooke said. “It is at the epicenter of global terrorism. It is strategically critical. It lies between Afghanistan and India. What more can you say?”

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in New York to appeal to the United Nations for more international help, noted at a forum today that the floods have come at a particularly critical time.

“At a time when … the democratically elected government in Pakistan had succeeded in building a consensus in Pakistan against extremism and terrorism, [and] when many lives were laid for a cause -- to achieve stability and peace in Afghanistan -- … we’ve been struck by this national calamity,” Qureshi said at the Asia Society-sponsored event.

Qureshi expressed the widely shared belief that 2010 is “the most critical year” in determining the success of the Afghanistan strategy as he appealed to the world community to help his country deal with severe monsoon flooding that have left one-fifth of it under water.

“We will use all our resources” to address Pakistan’s immediate and long-term needs created by the floods, Quereshi said at the session, where Holbrooke, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah and international relief organization leaders discussed the crisis.

“But frankly, it is beyond just national resources,” he said. “We do need international assistance, and we need international assistance now.”

The United States is “focused solely on the emergency rescue and relief mission” in Pakistan, Holbrooke emphasized today. The United States, he added, also is “very visibly leading the international effort” to assist Pakistan

It’s living up to the credo that Holbrooke said he, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Shah share in driving the U.S. “whole of government” response.

“We want to be the first, with the most assistance,” Holbrooke said. “And we have.”

The U.S. government has committed $90 million in relief aid to date, and Clinton is expected to pledge more during a special session of the U.N. General Assembly later today. Clinton also announced today the establishment of the Pakistan Relief Fund, which the State Department will administer for private citizens to contribute to the relief effort.

Meanwhile, Holbrooke noted that the United States has been the only country so far to get helicopters into Pakistan. Fifteen U.S. military helicopters are now in Pakistan – part of the contingent of 19 that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ordered there last week to rescue stranded people, deliver relief supplies and provide other air transport.

Today alone, U.S. military helicopter crews rescued 330 people and transported 77,560 pounds of relief supplies, officials at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad reported. Since Aug. 5, U.S. military helicopter crews have rescued 4,924 people and transported 636,068 pounds of relief supplies, officials reported.

Also today, three Air Force C-130 cargo aircraft based in Afghanistan supporting the mission transported 75,490 pounds of food and relief supplies, officials said.

“The Pakistani military and [Pakistani Army Chief of Staff] Gen. [Ashfaq Parvez] Kayani called us and asked us for help,” Holbrooke told ABC this morning. “We have American helicopter crews flying in an area they previously weren't moving in,” referring to the federally administered tribal areas “where the Taliban and al-Qaida hang out.”

Speaking to Pakistan’s Dawn TV in New York today, Clinton condemned extremists who capitalize on the crisis. “Why are the terrorists targeting for assassination and bombing Pakistanis at a moment of great natural distress? What is wrong with these people? Have they no shame? Have they no conscience?” she asked.

“While the people of Pakistan are literally fighting for their lives against the effects of this flood, the terrorists seem not to care,” Clinton continued.

Clinton called on the Pakistani military to “do everything in its power” to protect their country’s citizens and property. “It's unfortunate that they are fighting an enemy that is so uncaring about the people of your country,” she said.

Some 20 million people have been affected by the floods – more than during the 2004 tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and this year’s Haiti earthquake combined. An estimated 4 million Pakistanis have been left homeless.

 

[Solomon2]

U.S. and Pakistani military discuss flood relief efforts with U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts as he visits Ghazi aviation base in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, Aug. 19, 2010. The U.S. Marines are assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Duncan

U.S. Marine Super Stallion helicopters, assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron165 (REIN), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, land in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, to wait for Pakistani flood victims to arrive so they can be airlifted to safety, Aug. 18, 2010. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Duncan

Pakistani flood victims take flight aboard a Marine Super Stallion helicopter during humanitarian relief efforts in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, Aug. 17, 2010. The Marines involved in the relief efforts are assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Duncan

Vermont Army National Guard soldiers pull a liner open to spread it out before placing a fuel bladder on top as part of a forward area refueling point, Aug. 10, 2010. The team worked as part of the flood relief effort in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Horace Murray


National Guard Aids With Pakistani Flood Relief

By Air Force Tech. Sgt. Johnathon Orrell
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 20, 2010 – The Air National Guard has been working since the beginning of the operation in late July to provide relief supplies to areas in Pakistan affected by flooding.

Air Force Col. Greg Nelson, deputy director of mobility forces for U.S. Air Forces Central Command, is a member of the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing. He is now at Chaklala Air Base in Islamabad, Pakistan, one of the main air hubs for the flood relief effort.

“We are working in concert with the Pakistani air force and the government of Pakistan to try to bring air relief in here and then dispatch it throughout the nation where it is needed,” Nelson told a military reporter Aug. 18.

The 10,000-square-foot warehouse where he works can fill up in a day, Nelson said, depending on how many aircraft arrive from the supporting countries.

“This is a large airfield, so larger aircraft can come in and bring shipments of medications or supplies,” Nelson said. “We will break it down into smaller loads on tactical airlift aircraft like the C-130 to go into flood-affected areas.”

Air Force Capt. Robert Dodson, a C-130 Hercules pilot deployed from the 182nd Airlift Wing of the Illinois Air National Guard, was the aircraft commander on the first mission into Pakistan.

"We had a quick response from the time we were notified to the time the pallets were on the airplane," he said. "The whole reason why we're here is to help others when we can, and the whole crew is happy to do it."

Dodson and his crew are currently assigned to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing’s 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. On July 31, Dodson’s crew in a C-130 from the 133rd Airlift Wing of the Minnesota Air National Guard delivered nearly 8,000 packaged meals that conform with Islamic law to Pakistan.

Nelson said the U.S. and Pakistani air forces, along with several government and nongovernment agencies, are working together to provide relief to the devastated areas.

U.S. Delivers More Than 1 Million Pounds in Pakistan Flood Relief

From a U.S. Central Command News Release

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., Aug. 20, 2010 – U.S. military aircraft supporting Pakistan’s flood relief efforts achieved a significant milestone today, exceeding 1 million pounds of relief supplies delivered since Aug. 5, when U.S. military relief flight operations in Pakistan began.

To date, U.S. military helicopters and C-130 aircraft have transported 1,164,470 pounds of relief supplies in partnership with the Pakistani military throughout flood-affected areas, delivering much-needed aid and providing transport to people who urgently need emergency assistance.

“We’re honored to partner together, side by side with the Pakistan military and government, helping Pakistanis in their time of need,” said Navy Vice Adm. Michael A. LeFever, U.S. defense representative to Pakistan. “The courage and discipline displayed by the Pakistani military during this crisis has been truly impressive.”

Within hours of receiving the Pakistani government's urgent request, U.S. military helicopters began conducting relief flights Aug. 5 and have since transported 849,170 pounds of aid and rescued 5,372 people. Meanwhile, U.S. military C-130 cargo aircraft based in Afghanistan began providing airlift support to Pakistan on Aug. 16 and have since delivered 315,300 pounds of relief supplies to multiple locations throughout the country.

In addition to airlift support, within 36 hours of the initial flooding on July 29, the U.S. military began delivering thousands of packaged meals that conform with Islamic law to Pakistan from U.S. stocks in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the region. In all, 436,944 meals were provided to civilian and military officials in Pakistan for distribution to Pakistanis in need.

“The ability of the U.S. government to respond so quickly to this disaster at the request of the government of Pakistan is a testament to the unique capabilities of the U.S. military and the U.S. commitment to helping the Pakistani people,” LeFever said. “Pakistanis are our friends and partners, and we will continue to support them during this challenging time.”

Flood relief support to Pakistan from the United States is being provided through a whole-of-U.S. government, interagency response. Relief efforts are being coordinated through the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, in full consultation with the Pakistan government, including Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority and other agencies.

The latest information on U.S. government support to Pakistan’s flood relief is available on the U.S. Embassy Islamabad website. link

 

[Solomon2]

A U.S. Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter evacuates Pakistani flood victims during humanitarian relief efforts in Pakistan, Aug. 21, 2010. The U.S. helicopter is assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15, which is embarked aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu to support the Pakistan government in flooded regions of Pakistan. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Duncan

A U.S. Air Force airman loads aid and supplies onto a C-130H Hercules aircraft from the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron to support humanitarian relief efforts in Pakistan on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Aug. 20, 2010. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Andy M. Kin

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. John Metcalf backs cargo off an aircraft on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in support of humanitarian relief efforts in Pakistan, Aug. 20, 2010. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Andy M. Kin

U.S. Continues Flood Relief Aid for Pakistan

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2010 – U.S. military and other government and nongovernment organizations continue to assist Pakistani citizens battling the effects of massive floods that began July 29.

To date, according to a fact sheet issued today by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, the United States is providing about $150 million to support flood relief efforts in Pakistan, including funding for the operations of the Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority, the U.N.’s emergency relief plan, and the many local and international organizations responding to this disaster.

These funds are being used to provide critical supplies to Pakistani citizens impacted by the flood. The United States also is providing millions of dollars of additional in-kind and technical assistance.

U.S.-provided aid to Pakistan also includes the expansion of pre-existing programs in flood-affected areas, providing temporary bridges, and mobilizing significant U.S. military and civilian resources to rescue victims of the disaster and deliver needed supplies.

U.S. military and civilian aircraft continue to support flood relief operations. Through Aug. 22, these aircraft have evacuated 7,835 people and delivered more than 1.6 million pounds of relief supplies.

In other recent developments:

-- On Aug. 22, U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft, based from Afghanistan, delivered 79,000 pounds of food and relief supplies yesterday from Rawalpindi to Sukkur and Multan.

-- The World Food Program has reached more than 1.3 million flood-affected beneficiaries with almost 16,000 metric tons of food assistance, about 50 percent of which is provided by the United States.

-- The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Food for Peace has provided the World Food Program with an additional $32.3 million for local and regional procurement of food, bringing the U.S. total contribution to WFP to more than $51 million.

-- Since Aug. 8, U.S. water treatment units have provided approximately 4.8 million liters of safe drinking water to Pakistani citizens.

 

[Beskar]

This is exactly what I was looking for, Thanks Solomon for creating and updating this thread.

As for the US Military "Flood Relief Efforts" I have nothing but great respect for these guys. Thank you for once again stepping up in our hour of need. We didn't forget the help you guys provided in 2005 and we won't forget it this time around.

 

[mehru]

This gesture of US will never be forgotten.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

 

[Machoman]

US always do a lot for Pakistan but we don't realize. Special thanks to USA.

 

[ghazi52]

Thank you USA government.

 

[Tayyab1796]

Thanks USA ... did anybody notice the beauty of Pakistan in post 34 ... where a helicopter has landed on the meadows...wow ... heaven on earth ...

 

[bosnian]

How is situation in Pak. now as far flood goes.....

 

[Solomon2]

This is exactly what I was looking for, Thanks Solomon for creating and updating this thread.

Thanks. I'm pleased with your praise, but I'm also feeling rather humbled and a bit embarrassed. You have more in common with the U.S. soldiers, marines, and airmen than I do, for you are one of those actually doing the relief work. Super moderator!

 

[Solomon2]

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Bill Lasage and Marines position an MH-53E Super Stallion helicopter in the cargo area of a C-17A Globemaster III aircraft on Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., Aug. 21, 2010. The helicopter is one of four that will be used to supplement U.S. military rescue and relief efforts in the flood-affected areas of Pakistan. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez

100815-N-9706M-401 ARABIAN SEA (Aug. 15, 2010) Lance Cpl. Richard Hayes, assigned to the amphibious transport dock ship USS Dubuque (LPD 8) Combat Cargo Platoon, prepares pallets of humanitarian supplies to be moved to the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) during a vertical replenishment. Dubuque is part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group, supporting the Pakistani government and military disaster relief efforts with heavy lift capabilities in flooded regions of Pakistan. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David McKee/Released)

100821-N-3497D-543 KHYBER-PAKHTUNKHWA PROVINCE, Pakistan (Aug. 21, 2010) A member of a U.S. Navy air crew assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 15, Detachment 2, helps Pakistani soldiers unload relief supplies from a U.S. Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter during humanitarian relief efforts. HM-15 is embarked aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) supporting the Pakistan government and military with heavy lift capabilities in flooded regions of Pakistan. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Duncan/Released)



Marines Support Pakistan Flood Relief Efforts

By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2010 – The Marine Corps has responded to the crisis in Pakistan with troops, aircraft and a host of evacuation support, and relief supplies, the service’s commandant said here today.

Marine Corps Gen. James T. Conway recently returned from a trip to Pakistan and updated reporters on the Marines’ relief efforts in the wake of massive flooding there in a briefing at the Pentagon.

Since Aug. 12, 2,200 Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit have responded to the crisis, he said. And, as of this morning, eight Marine CH-46 and four CH-53 helicopters deployed to Pakistan have evacuated 3,075 people and delivered more than 650,000 pounds of cargo.

Meanwhile, the 26th MEU from the East Coast is sailing early to contribute to the disaster relief, Conway said, and the unit should arrive off the Pakistani coast by mid to late September.

The MEUs are the theater reserve for the theater commander, Conway explained. Their deployment strips the commander of some capability to respond elsewhere in the theater, he added, but noted that Marines serving in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province aren’t affected.

“We aren’t relying upon any of the MEU capacity in Helmand province to be able to continue our functions there,” he said.

The floods, however, are having an impact on Pakistan’s security. “The Pakistani leadership is consumed with responding to the aftermath of the flood disaster,” Conway said. Pakistan Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, chief of army staff, “cautioned me that the involvement of his army in the flood relief will, for a time, detract from their efforts to secure the Pakistani frontier.”

To date, the U.S. military has delivered 1.5 million pounds of relief supplies and food, and helicopters have rescued or transported about 6,500 people


U.S. Official, Pakistani Leaders Discuss Flood Relief

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2010 – The administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan, yesterday to consult with Pakistani government officials on the extensive U.S. response to the country’s devastating floods.

The U.S. military is working with USAID and other government and nongovernment organizations to assist Pakistani citizens battling the effects of massive floods that began July 29.

Dr. Rajiv Shah is the most senior U.S. official to travel to Pakistan since the floods began. This is his third trip to Pakistan in five months. While in Pakistan, Shah will meet with senior government officials, key representatives from Pakistan's national disaster management authority and leadership from the United Nations and other disaster response organizations.

USAID is coordinating with other U.S. agencies to expand existing programs in flood-affected areas and to mobilize significant U.S. civilian resources to help in rescuing victims of the disaster and delivering needed supplies. The efforts underscore the U.S. commitment to strengthen its partnership with the Pakistani people and government for long-term reconstruction of the country, officials said.

To date, according to a fact sheet issued yesterday by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, the United States is providing about $150 million to support relief efforts in Pakistan, including funding for the operations of the NDMA, the United Nation’s emergency relief plan, and the many local and international organizations responding to the disaster. The United States also is providing millions of dollars of additional in-kind and technical assistance.

U.S. military and civilian aircraft continue to support Pakistan flood relief operations. Through Aug. 23, these aircraft had evacuated 7,847 people and delivered more than 1.7 million pounds of relief supplies.

In other recent developments:

-- U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft based in Afghanistan delivered 82,435 pounds of food and relief supplies yesterday from Rawalpindi to Sukkur, Deri Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur.

-- To provide additional support to local humanitarian organizations in Pakistan, the United States has funded support officers to help nongovernment organizations apply for flood relief assistance grants available under the special $5 million “Responding to Pakistan’s Internally Displaced” fund. The fund was created to provide quick-impact grants to local NGOs responding to the flood emergency. USAID also announced that support officers will be traveling through flood-affected areas in Multan, Sukkur, and Dera Ismail Khan.

-- The World Food Program has provided a month’s supply of emergency food rations to more than 1.6 million flood-affected people in Pakistan. About half of the food aid provided by WFP is from the United States.

-- USAID’s Office of Food for Peace has provided WFP with an additional $32.3 million for local and regional procurement of food, bringing the U.S. total contribution to more than $51 million.

-- Since Aug. 8, U.S. water treatment units have provided about 4.8 million liters of safe drinking water.

 

[Solomon2]

Airmen from the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron load aid and supplies onto a C-130H Hercules in support of humanitarian relief efforts in Pakistan Aug. 20, 2010, at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Andy M. Kin)

1st Lt. Jonathan Lipsey looks over maps during flying mission in support of humanitarian relief efforts in Pakistan Aug. 20, 2010. Members of the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron are conducting missions to Pakistan out of Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Lieutenent Lipsey is a C-130H Hercules navigator assigned to the 746th EAS. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Andy M. Kin)


Deployed aircrew brings relief to flood-torn Pakistan

Posted 8/23/2010 Email story
by Staff Sgt. Kali L. Gradishar
U.S. Air Forces Central Combat Camera Team

8/23/2010 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- As Air Force operations in support of flood relief operations in Pakistan resumed, aircrew and support personnel from the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia prepared to forward deploy to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, to ease the workload of the local airlift squadron already engaged with supporting missions in Afghanistan.

"Once the floods happened, we were tasked ... to come up and provide additional support to the airlift squadron here at Bagram to help with the relief effort in Pakistan," said Master Sgt. John Metcalf, an Air Force Reserve C-130 Hercules loadmaster deployed to the 746th EAS. "We brought a small contingency of crews and support personnel and two aircraft to help the (774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron) here so they could continue their mission in Afghanistan and we could help out in Pakistan."

Not long after their arrival in Bagram, the crew began operations from Bagram to the Pakistan Air Force's Central Flood Relief Cell at Chaklala Air Force Base, Pakistan, near the capital city of Islamabad. From there, the C-130 was loaded with relief supplies and sent on its way to various locations affected by the flooding.

The 746th AES crew, an Air Force Reserve unit deployed from the 357th Airlift Squadron out of Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., quickly shifted mindset from missions in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom to humanitarian aid and relief efforts. Being prepared to conduct operations in such an environment, however, doesn't come synonymously with being prepared to see such ruin.

The floods have affected more than 14 million people, more than one million homes were damaged or destroyed, and there have been more than 1,500 deaths and more than 2,000 injuries, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. An estimated one-fifth of the country is underwater; and the disaster has affected more people than the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and 2010 Haiti earthquake combined.

Sergeant Metcalf described his first reaction as being in "complete awe," said the Montgomery, Ala., native. "Just to see the devastation. I've (seen the effects of Hurricane) Katrina in Mississippi and Louisiana, and I'm not going to say that it topped that, but it gave me the same feeling; towns and farms and buildings just under water."

Lt. Col. Ken Ostrat, an Air Force Reserve C-130 Hercules pilot deployed to the 746th EAS, also recalled being taken back by the amount of water and seeing villages, farms and lives uprooted.

"The first thing I thought was that this was a massively destructive natural event. There had to be thousands of people who were directly impacted, and hundreds of thousands more that were indirectly impacted by something of that scale," said the Prattville, Ala., native, also the director of operations for the 357th AS at Maxwell AFB. "As we left Islamabad, you could tell the rivers were a little bit high. The more we flew down toward Sukkur, which is downriver, you can see out the window the widening of the river as the floodwaters continued to go further past the banks of the normal river channel.

"By the time we got down to Sukkur, there were thousands of acres flooded, virtually the entire area. And you could see that there were farms, date farms, small villages and houses that were completely inundated with the water for miles in every direction," he said.

While this is not the unit's first experience with humanitarian aid missions, there were some unique challenges the crew overcame to safely and efficiently conduct operations supporting flood relief in Pakistan.

Communication, procedures and terrain are among the many changes to adapt to when flying missions into unfamiliar territory as flood relief missions require coordinating with local nationals at the flood relief cell, operating in Pakistan's airspace and flying over Afghanistan and Pakistan's mountainous summits.

The language and communication barrier is one of the major challenges, according to Sergeant Metcalf, a loadmaster with 10 years of experience.

"Anytime you go international, the procedures are slightly different and the terminology is slightly different, so that increases the challenges," said Colonel Ostrat. "You just have to be flexible and respond to their requirements. The biggest challenge is understanding the communication difference. They all speak English,the controllers, however, they all have their own regional dialects and accents, and that sometimes makes it hard."

The crew from the 379th AEW is just one of many elements of support in the worldwide relief effort in Pakistan. The Pakistan-run flood relief center receives and dispatches relief supplies to include food, water and shelter donated by numerous countries.

"It was rewarding to see the international power that is going in to bring relief to those people in Sukkur and all the other downstream regions in Pakistan that were affected," said Colonel Ostrat, describing the various country labels he's seen on relief supply packages to include Korea, China, Russia, Australia and many others.

Being a part of such a huge conglomeration of nations racing to aid a fellow country in need can be a rewarding experience. Sergeant Metcalf expressed satisfaction with the work C-130 crews are doing to relieve some of the hardship on people in flooded regions by providing life-sustaining provisions.

"Unfortunately, when we go into these places we're on a tight timeline. We've got to get in there and get out. We drop off the supplies, and we go to our next destination to pick up supplies and deliver them to all the locations," said Sergeant Metcalf. "We don't really get to see the fruits of our labor, but we know (we're doing a good thing), and that's all that matters to us."

 

[Spring Onion]

Thank you jee for the help

 

[Solomon2]

Men from the town of Kalam, Pakistan, form a chain to quickly unload a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter Aug 23, 2010

Aug 13, 2010 Pakistan military load a flood victim with a broken leg onto a Black Hawk with Company A, Task


U.S., Pakistani Militaries Bond in Disaster Relief

By Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2010 – The Pakistani military has shown tremendous cooperation, support, and friendship toward U.S. forces providing flood relief in northern Pakistan, the U.S. general in charge of troops there said today.

“The collaboration, the cooperation, the support, the protection, and the friendship – and I use that word very deliberately – extended to us by our Pakistani partners has been nothing but impressive,” Army Brig. Gen. Michael Nagata told Pentagon reporters during a video-teleconference briefing from Ghazi Air Base in northern Pakistan.

“This is one of the best examples of combined collaborations among military partners that I’ve ever seen,” Nagata said.

He said the U.S. military contribution in Pakistan’s northern area, which includes the Upper Dir, Swat Valley and Kohistan regions, today includes 230 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines and 19 helicopters. Four Air Force and Marine Corps C-130 cargo planes are delivering supplies in other areas of Pakistan, Nagata said.

The United States has steadily increased its assets in the area, Nagata noted, starting with eight Army helicopters from Afghanistan that worked out of Ghazi Air Base for two weeks soon after the flood began at the end of July. The 15 Navy and Marine Corps helicopters replaced the eight Army helicopters, he said.

Four additional heavy-lift helicopters are expected to arrive at Ghazi in early September, Nagata said. He added that the U.S. military will continue to help with the flood relief effort as long as the Pakistani government requests it.

Meanwhile, a “broad range of conversations” is taking place among various U.S. agencies at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad to consider future relief operations, Nagata said. He emphasized that the flood, which has left more than a million people homeless, is of historic proportions and that it will take a long time to recover from it.

Though Nagata declined to discuss how the flooding has affected the Pakistani military’s counterinsurgency effort in the Swat Valley, he said they had made “substantial progress” there when the flooding began four weeks ago. He added that the Pakistanis have been waging counterinsurgency operations “with great energy and great determination for several years now.”

“They are completely committed,” Nagata said of the Pakistani security forces, “and they’ve taken significant casualties in fighting militants in this country.”

Likely through a combination of the Pakistani counterinsurgency work, their current security support, and the flooding situation, U.S. forces have had no security problems in the area, Nagata said. “We’ve simply had no reason to fear for our safety since we arrived in Pakistan,” he said.

Working out of a large hangar and two other sites in northern Pakistan, the aircraft and crews mostly are delivering bulk food items, such as flour and rice, as well as cooking utensils and portable water systems, among other things, the general said.

So far, the northern provinces have not seen an increase in illnesses as Pakistan’s southern provinces have, probably because of better drainage to reduce standing water in the mountainous northern regions, Nagata said. The drainage has allowed an assessment of the area that shows significant damage to crops, roads, fields, buildings and other infrastructure, he said.

Asked about the reaction of Pakistani civilians to U.S. servicemembers working in their country, Nagata said, “They’re grateful. I’ve seen many occasions where they’ve approached U.S. and Pakistani military members to express their thanks.”

 

[Solomon2]