‘Hurricane Hunters’ Track Isaac as Southcom, Northcom Prepare

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2012 – With Tropical Storm Isaac bearing down on the Dominican Republic and Haiti and threatening to strengthen over the eastern Caribbean, the “Hurricane Hunters” from the Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron are in the air, relaying critical data to National Weather Service forecasters in Miami.

Meanwhile, staffs at both the U.S. Southern and Northern Commands are monitoring the storm closely and ensuring they are ready to provide support to civilian authorities, including the U.S. Agency for International Development and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Three six-person crews from the 53rd WRS and their maintainers and support staff deployed to St. Croix from Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., last weekend, Air Force Lt. Col. Jon Talbot, the squadron’s chief meteorologist, told American Forces Press Service. Operating out of the international airport there, they began flying their specially equipped C-130J Hercules aircraft through the storm Aug. 21.

On a typical mission that can run up to 12 hours, the aircrews crisscross the storm in what the teams call an “alpha pattern,” he explained. Sophisticated onboard instruments and small canisters dropped by parachute to the ocean’s surface collect accurate measurements of the storm’s location and intensity.

That information is fed continuously to the National Hurricane Center via an onboard satellite link. In addition, the aircraft sends automated messages every 10 minutes, relaying barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, and other measurements.

“The reason this data is critical is because, with satellites, you can track where storms are and get a general picture, but you can’t peer into the storm and physically measure what is happening at the ocean’s surface,” Talbot said. “That is the important piece of information you need to know when it comes to providing warnings to the public. The emergency management community needs to know what is going on near the surface of the ocean, because those are the winds that are going to come ashore.”

With about six missions already under their belts during the past three days, Talbot said, the pace will pick up considerably as Isaac moves west toward the United States. “Currently, we are doing about three missions a day, but that will go up to four or five when the storm comes within 300 miles of the U.S. coastline,” he said.

The Hurricane Hunters expect to move west along with the storm, redeploying to Keesler Air Force Base to resume those missions beginning this weekend. In the event that the crews have to evacuate Keesler, Talbot said, they already have alternate operating sites lined up. “We track these things pretty closely, because if we end up having to jump from here, we still have to continue flying and providing that data while we are evacuating our own resources,” he said. “It becomes a big, tangled web, but it always works out pretty well.”

As a precaution, aircraft and ships are being moved out of the storm’s possible path and other assets are being secured, according to Southcom spokesman Army Lt. Col. Darryl Wright. Planning teams are busy running rehearsal meetings and preparing to verify personnel and resource requests, if USAID issues them, he said.

Wright emphasized that military support, if provided, would be part of a coordinated U.S. response led by civilian authorities. “We conduct close coordination and planning and provide DOD support to relief efforts upon request,” he said. “Through this close coordination, we ensure that we respond with the most efficient means available to the U.S. government.”

In terms of disaster response, Wright said efficiency is typically more important than speed in reducing suffering and saving lives.

Northcom, too, is in a monitoring mode. But with the storm expected to intensify late this weekend when it hits the Atlantic and the Florida Straits, the command deployed a defense coordinating officer and element to Puerto Rico on Aug. 20 to support FEMA, John Cornelio, Northcom’s media operations chief, told American Forces Press Service.

The element of about 20 people is assessing the situation and standing ready to provide assistance, if requested. “We have learned the value of being forward enough to cut down on the response time, if required,” Cornelio said.

With Isaac’s path still anyone’s guess, officials say it’s too soon to know whether it will hit Tampa, site of next week’s Republican National Convention. Northcom has a team deployed there to support the Secret Service during the convention, Cornelio reported.

Regional Challenges Drive Southcom’s Agenda

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

MIAMI, June 18, 2012 – Air Force Gen. Douglas M. Fraser, commander of U.S. Southern Command, regularly tells members of Congress, audiences around the region and members of his command that events in South America, Central America and the Caribbean affect U.S. national security.

“The hemisphere is our shared home,” Fraser noted in his Command Strategy 2020 “Partnership for the Americas” document issued in July.

“We are all Americans” in the region, he added.

While a mere glance at a map underscores the obvious physical connection among the hemisphere’s nations, Fraser cited other bonds that cross economic, cultural, ideological and security lines.

“Latin America and the Caribbean are vitally important to the security and future of the United States,” he said. “The nations of the region are inextricably linked, and we face common challenges to our security and stability.”

With globalization unfolding at lightning speed over the past decade, transforming commerce, culture, trade and technology, it’s had a profound impact on security as well, the general noted in his 2012 Southcom posture statement, released in March.

Fraser said he’s particularly concerned about “the parallel globalization of organized crime, violence, murder and kidnapping related to illicit trafficking.”

He noted that in many parts of the hemisphere, particularly in Central America, transnational organized crime has evolved to become a “volatile and potentially destabilizing threat to both citizen and regional security.”

These sophisticated networks operate across national borders and dividing lines for U.S. geographic combatant commands, demanding an unprecedented level of cooperation among those attempting to counter them -- regionally, nationally and across U.S. agencies, he said.

“The challenge for United States Southern Command is to find creative ways to enhance the interagency, public-private and partner-nation cooperation as we plan, train and operate with regional military to address the predominant security concerns in the region,” Fraser said.

Fraser recognized other persistent challenges facing the region, including poverty, crime, corruption, institutional weakness, illicit trafficking and terrorism. “These challenges complicate our collective efforts to secure the hemisphere,” he stated in his 2020 command strategy. “At the same time, security helps provide the very means to address these issues.”

He cited the vulnerability of much of Latin America and the Caribbean to humanitarian crises, mass migrations and natural disasters.

Southcom works closely with partner nations to strengthen their humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities, Fraser told the House Armed Services Committee in May. “And we remain ready to respond should our assistance be requested,” he added.

Meanwhile, Southcom watches for potential geopolitical turbulence that could affect U.S. citizens and military personnel in the region, he said in his posture statement. He cited Cuba, Haiti, Bolivia and Venezuela as areas of particular interest.

Frasier noted the yet-to-be-seen long-term effects of Cuba’s market reforms under Raul Castro’s leadership. Haiti, while making slow but steady progress, remains vulnerable to natural disasters and economic hardship, the general said.

Meanwhile, he added, public demonstrations in Bolivia related to low wages, high food prices and energy shortages are likely to continue until the Bolivian government addresses these issues. And in Venezuela, Fraser recognized continuing uncertainty about President Hugo Chavez’ health, as well as continued economic instability and escalating violence that he said place increasing demands on that country’s government.

Adding to the list of concerns, Fraser pointed to Hezbollah supporters operating throughout South America and the fact that the region has become home to a small number of violent extremist organizations.

“We remain vigilant for the potential radicalization of homegrown extremists,” he said. Fraser noted that Sunni extremists, while small in number, are actively involved in radicalization efforts.

Jamaica’s Shaykh Abdullah al-Faisal, for example, was convicted in the United Kingdom for inciting terrorism, he said. Al-Qaida senior operative Adnan el-Shukrijumah has held valid passports for the United States as well as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, where he has family and associates. And despite recent convictions in the 2007 plot to attack the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, one of the alleged co-conspirators remains at large in Guyana.

Meanwhile, Fraser noted, Iran represents a troublesome influence in the region, attempting to circumvent international sanctions through ties with Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba. “We take Iranian activity in the hemisphere seriously, and we monitor its activities closely,” he said.

In presenting his command priorities, Fraser emphasized four major objectives:

-- Strengthen regional partnerships;

-- Increase partner capability;

-- Confront regional challenges; and

-- Support humanitarian and disaster response, as required.

Fraser called partnership-building “the cornerstone of our strategic approach.” It ensures the forward defense of the United States, he said, by promoting capable regional militaries that share in the responsibility of hemispheric security and stability.

“What we focus on in the region is building partner capacity and security cooperation, collaboratively, with willing nations,” Navy Vice Adm. Joseph D. Kernan, Southcom’s military deputy commander, told American Forces Press Service at the command’s headquarters here. “We endeavor to plan extensively with them, ensuring that our efforts to help build their security in ways they believe are helpful to them.”

These efforts are coordinated closely with the State Department and with full respect for each partner nation’s sovereignty, Kernan said.

“We truly want to be the security partner of choice,” said Army Maj. Gen. Gerald W. Ketchum, director of the command’s theater engagement directorate, who oversees many of the programs designed to build those partnerships. “And as we work to build them, we want those partnerships to be enduring.”

In establishing new ties and strengthening existing ones, Kernan said, Southcom is demonstrating the deep U.S. commitment to the region.

“We have to pursue a persistent, welcomed presence with countries in the region,” he said. “That is what builds lasting relations and mutual respect. We need to be able to stand alongside our partners and talk about collectively addressing common security problems.”

Fraser said efforts to strengthen and enhance partner nations’ ability to respond to domestic and regional threats -- individually and collectively -- will pay off in long-term security for the region.

“We envision a hemisphere characterized by nations working together to address the emerging security challenges of the coming decade,” he said.

San Diego Sailors, Project Handclasp Work to Get Donations to Haiti

By Candice Villarreal, Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center San Diego Public Affairs

CORONADO, Calif. (NNS) -- Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) San Diego teamed up with Project Handclasp in Coronado, Calif., to stage pallets of donated food and supplies for transport to Haiti Dec. 15.

The supply rating Sailors - all logistics specialists and ship's servicemen - loaded and secured 83 pallets containing more than 65,000 pounds of donated cargo onto 21 oversized U.S. Air Force pallets for transport in a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy plane. The donations began the first leg of their journey to the impoverished island nation when they departed Naval Air Station North Island Dec. 17.

"Part of being a good Sailor is helping those in need whenever and wherever you have the opportunity to do so," said Logistics Specialist 2nd Class (AW) John Laughlin.

Sailors loaded 36 pallets of toys and wagons, 20 pallets of school kits and hygiene supplies, 17 pallets - or 121,176 total servings - of High Nutrition Meals, nine pallets of school books and 15 water filters that will provide homes or facilities with safe drinking water for about 10 years apiece.

"Doing our part to make sure these goods get to the Haitian people is a great but humbling feeling," Laughlin said. "We're here as part of a bigger picture, just donating a little time and effort to something bigger than ourselves, and hopefully that will effect some type of positive change for the people of Haiti."

Project Handclasp accepts humanitarian, educational and goodwill donations contributed by the American private sector and transports them to foreign nations on a space-available basis aboard U.S. Navy vessels. The shipment of goods was transported to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where High Speed Vessel Swift (HSV 2) will receive the pallets for delivery to schools, orphanages and a feeding center in Haiti.

The U.S. Navy has continued to deliver humanitarian assistance and aid to Haiti since the small island nation was rocked by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake in January 2010, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and more than one million homeless or displaced. By utilizing volunteer or organic labor and space-available transportation, Project Handclasp delivers the goods at no cost to the military.

"Project Handclasp is an outstanding program within the Department of the Navy that really helps change lives abroad," said Capt. Peter Stamatopoulos, NAVSUP FLC San Diego commanding officer. "Any time NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center San Diego can lend that program a helping hand in achieving their mission to provide for the less fortunate, we're going to be there. That's what we do as part of 'A global force for good.'"

NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center San Diego, one of seven fleet logistics centers under NAVSUP Global Logistics Support, provides global logistics, business and support services to fleet, shore and industrial commands of the Navy, Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command, and other joint and allied forces. Services include contracting, regional transportation, fuel, material management, household goods movement support, postal and consolidated mail, warehousing, global logistics and husbanding, hazardous material management, and integrated logistics support.

NAVSUP GLS comprises more than 5,700 military and civilian logistics professionals, contractors and foreign nationals operating as a single cohesive team providing global logistics services from 110 locations worldwide.

A component of the Naval Supply Systems Command headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pa., NAVSUP GLS is part of a worldwide logistics network of more than 22,500 military and civilian personnel providing combat capability through logistics.

This Day in Naval History - Aug. 29

From the Navy News Service

1861 - U.S. squadron captures forts at Hatteras Inlet, N.C.

1862 - Union gunboat Pittsburgh supports Army troops in landing at Eunice, Arkansas. (Check out these American Civil War books written by military authors!)

1915 - Navy salvage divers raise F-4, first U.S. submarine sunk in accident.

1916 - Congress passes act for expansion of Navy but most ships not completed until after World War I.

1964 - USS Boxer (LPD 4) and two LSDs arrive off coast of Hispaniola to give medical aid to Haiti and Dominican Republic, which were badly damaged by Hurricane Cleo.

China Report Notes Military Modernization

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2011 – China’s military is modernizing, but the Chinese government needs to be more forthcoming on why it needs these new capabilities, according to a Defense Department report delivered to Congress today.

Michael Schiffer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, briefed Pentagon reporters on the report.

“The United States welcomes a strong, prosperous and successful China that contributes to international rules and norms and enhances security and peace both in the Asia-Pacific region and around the globe,” Schiffer said.

The United States is working to engage China in economic, peacekeeping and humanitarian areas, among others, Schiffer said. A good military-to-military relationship is one part of that engagement, he added, noting that China is working with the international community, for example, to counter piracy off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden. The Chinese military also has contributed to earthquake relief in Pakistan and played a role in delivering humanitarian aid to Haiti, he said.

“However,” he added, “the pace and scope of China's sustained military investment have allowed China to pursue capabilities that we believe are potentially destabilizing to regional military balances, increase the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation, and may contribute to regional tensions and anxieties.”

The capabilities could pose a temptation for the Chinese government to use military force “to gain diplomatic advantage, advance its interests, or resolve … disputes in its favor,” Schiffer said. This danger, he told reporters, re-emphasizes the need for a sustained and reliable military-to-military dialogue between the United States and China.

China’s army is on track to realize its goal of building a modern, regionally focused military by 2020, the report says. But China’s ability to sustain military power at a distance today remains limited.

This may change shortly, Schiffer said. This month, China has conducted sea trials of a Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier it purchased from Ukraine and refurbished.

“The aircraft carrier could become operationally available to China’s navy by the end of 2012, we assess, but without aircraft,” Schiffer said. “It will take a number of additional years for an air group to achieve the sort of minimal level of combat capability aboard the carrier that will be necessary for them to start to operate from the carrier itself.”

The Chinese continue to invest in submarines, and China’s navy is investing in new surface combatants designed for anti-surface and anti-air warfare, Schiffer said, and construction of a major naval base on Hainan Island is complete. “And this base, we assess, is large enough to accommodate a mix of ballistic missiles, submarines and large surface combatants, including aircraft carriers,” he added.

China is also investing in aircraft and missiles. In January, the Chinese air force flight-tested its next-generation fighter prototype. The aircraft includes stealth attributes, advanced avionics and supercruise-capable engines, Schiffer said.

Space also is a focus of China’s military modernization, with a record 15 launches in 2010.

While relations with Taiwan and China have improved markedly in most areas, Schiffer said, the Chinese military still focuses on a cross-strait contingency. China also seems to be stressing maritime territorial claims in the South China Sea – an area where roughly 50 percent of the world’s trade travels.

The Chinese military also has demonstrated in recent years the capability to conduct limited peacetime deployments of modern forces outside Asia.

“This includes multiple counterpiracy deployments to the Gulf of Aden and increasing participation in international humanitarian and disaster … relief efforts,” Schiffer said. “Investments in large amphibious ships, a new hospital ship, long-range transport aircraft and improved logistics have made these sorts of missions a practical reality.” These peacetime operations provide China’s military with a valuable operational experience and also serve the government’s diplomatic objectives, he added.

The modernization shows no sign of slowing, the report says, as the Chinese military received a 12.7 percent budget increase this year. The report acknowledges the difficulty in figuring how much China spends on its military, but estimates it at around $165 billion. “That continues more than two decades of sustained budgetary growth,” Schiffer told reporters.

The Chinese have made some incremental improvements in transparency in recent years, he said, but a number of uncertainties remain.

“We will continue, and we do continue, to encourage China to improve transparency and openness, to act in ways that support and strengthen common political, economic and diplomatic interests of the region and of the international community,” Schiffer said.

In the past, the Chinese have objected to the release of the report. Schiffer said he hopes the Chinese government and military will look at it differently this year.

“The report can best be read not simply as a piece of analysis, but really as the sets of questions and issues that we would like to be able to engage in dialogue and discussion with our Chinese counterparts about,” he said. “These are the questions and the issues that we think that it's important for us to be able to understand.

“We know our Chinese friends have questions for and about us,” he continued, “and that's the sort of dialogue and discussion that we welcome and that we think contributes to regional and global security and stability.”

Mullen: Public, Private Efforts Must Help Failed States

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2011 – Nations and organizations of all kinds must join together to take on the challenges posed by a growing number of weak and failing states, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said today.

Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke at a launch event for the 2011 Failed States Index, hosted by The Fund for Peace and Business Executives for National Security. The fund has published the index since 2005.

“[For] every single entity that exists on this globe, whether it’s public or private [or] nongovernmental,” Mullen said. “ … It’s imperative that we all figure out how we’re going to address these challenges together because … they are coming at us at a speed that is accelerating.”

The index is an annual ranking of 177 nations using 12 social, economic and political indicators of pressure on the state, along with more than 100 sub-indicators. Indicators include issues like uneven development, state legitimacy, group grievance and human rights.

“In today’s world, many challenges to international peace and prosperity come from nontraditional sources,” said Ken Brill, Institute for Peace president.

“This has direct implications for U.S. national security,” Brill added, “which needs to be thought about and acted on in a broader context than ever before.”

The 2011 index is based on data collected throughout 2010, so it does not account for recent events such as Japan’s major earthquake and tsunami and uprisings across the Middle East.

For the fourth consecutive year, the report ranks Somalia as the No. 1 failed state, citing widespread lawlessness, ineffective government, terrorism, insurgency, crime and pirate attacks against foreign vessels.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Finland, for the first time, displaced Norway from the best position among most stable countries because of slight fluctuations in demographic and economic indicators.

Each indicator used in the ranking is rated on a scale of one to 10 based on the analysis of millions of publicly available documents, other quantitative data and analytic assessments.

A high score indicates high pressure on the state, and therefore a higher risk of instability.

Instability created by failing states threatens the normal function of the international marketplace,” said retired Army Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, president and chief executive officer of the Business Executives for National Security.

“Private-sector initiatives and investment,” he added, “can combat state fragility, promote stability and prevent conflict.”

Besides Somalia, the top 10 failed states include, in order from the most troubled states, Chad, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Iraq and Ivory Coast.

“As I look at the failed state index and look at the states that top the list … none of them are surprising,” Mullen said. “What concerns me about that is the need for the global entities that exist to address the challenges.”

Mullen described a principle he said has been with him throughout his career, since he was a young officer deployed to Vietnam in 1969.

“The message that came from the families that I would become familiar with,” Mullen said, was that they were anxious to raise their children to a higher standard of living than they had achieved, and in some semblance of peace and prosperity.

“You need the peace to generate the prosperity to achieve that standard,” he said. “That’s a global standard from my perspective.”

About the positions of Iraq and Afghanistan on the index, Mullen said, “I’ve felt for some time, and I’m not alone in this, that Iraq has resources to generate a thriving economy.

“With the oil resources they have and the appetite the world has for oil,” he added, “I am fairly confident that, over time, Iraq will pull itself out of its place on this index.”

Afghanistan does not have such resources immediately available, the chairman said, but the country can be helped to build its economy enough to improve the lives of its people.

“For both these countries, though, that’s just the economic side,” he said, adding that the index measures governance, security, how the countries’ leaders take care of their people, and other indicators.

For several years, Mullen said, he has worried about Yemen as a potential next place for al Qaida to call home, and the index ranks Yemen as 13th from the top of the most failed states.

While the al Qaida leadership “still resides in the border [area] between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the chairman said, the federated al Qaida group in Yemen is an “incredibly dangerous group” that has taken full advantage of the chaos there.

While military intervention sometimes is necessary to bring stability, it is never the whole answer to fixing a failed state,” Mullen said.

“The military, the security piece, is a necessary condition, but it is insufficient in and of itself,” he added. “And it’s taking us a long time to figure that out.”

Economic engines – the United States, China, India, Brazil, the Middle East and Europe -- will help create the standard of living that most people want for their children, Mullen said.

“How do we make these economic engines work together so the haves and the have-nots are not as far apart?” he said. “It’s my belief that if they continue to separate … then I think there will be more and more failed states.”

“For those of us in leadership positions, we just can’t keep talking about this,” Mullen said. “We have to generate actions on the ground.”

Task Force Delivers 'Human Message' To Haiti

By Fred W. Baker III

American Forces Press Service

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MANDRIN, Haiti, June 20, 2011 – Stepping off the Black Hawk helicopter here, the scene is similar to that of many forward operating bases in Afghanistan.

High mountains peak in the distance, concertina wire separates the space between the troops and the nearby village, and rows of tents stand in formation with the ropes on their window flaps struggling to keep them in check against a gusty wind. Colorful portable toilets flank the tents on all sides, easily visible among a sea of green and tan.

But a walk down the makeshift gravel road that cuts through the heart of the site reveals one glaring omission.

Weapons.

Gone are the big war machines decked out in armor and firepower. And the 400 troops here are not slinging M4 machine guns, grenade launchers and sundry belts of ammunition.

Make no mistake. The weapons are here, just not in sight.

"We try to minimize the exposure of the weapons," Army Maj. Wynn Nugent, operations officer for Task Force Bon Voizen, said. "It sends a bad message, especially being here on a humanitarian exercise. We still carry them because we need to, but we try not to display them."

Perched on high ground in the Artibonite department, or province, the troops deployed here operate similarly in many ways to operations overseas. Almost all of the U.S. military services are combined for a joint mission. Also, a handful of foreign militaries have teams here. They form up under a single command structure to carry out their operations with military precision.

And the site is almost entirely self-sufficient. Only local fuel and some transportation are contracted. Satellites and radio antennas jut from the tent tops providing communications locally and to and from the states. Thousands of gallons of water are pumped and purified daily from an on-site well for the troops. Food and vegetables are shipped in and trucked to the chow hall where hot meals are provided daily. Helicopters buzz in and out delivering fresh troops and discharging those returning home.

But that is pretty much where the comparisons stop. Task Force Bon Voizen, which translates as “good neighbor,” serves as a picture-perfect image of the U.S. military's soft-power efforts, and the task force's only enemies here are time and budget.

While the troops call leaving the base "going outside the wire," it is actually a few flimsy strands of concertina, easily infiltrated by guineas, dogs, pigs and the occasional donkey.

Its primary purpose is to keep people from walking through the base camp to visit those living in the surrounding community.

"When they see it, they don't come through," Nugent said. "It's for their safety more than ours. We have machinery moving through here, big vehicles moving around."

The Haitian government chose this region for the task force’s efforts, chiefly because of the influx of residents after last year's earthquake. Thousands left the devastated Port-au-Prince area, seeking food, shelter and jobs in the surrounding rural areas. The Artibonite area is about 70 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince, and Haitian officials would rather improve the infrastructure here than have the displaced return to the already overcrowded inner city that is still struggling to recover.

Since the task force began its mission at the end of April, it has treated more than 800 dental patients and nearly 23,000 medical patients. That includes delivering a few babies, providing emergency surgery and constructing a mouthpiece for a child born with a cleft palate so that he can eventually learn to talk.

Its veterinary technicians treated almost 1,500 area animals. And the engineers will leave here next week after building one school, two clinics and bathroom facilities.

For their efforts, the troops here have received "nothing but love," Nugent said.

"What we're doing here is a drop in the bucket for what these people need, truthfully. But we're providing them just a glimmer of hope," Nugent said. "We show them, 'Hey, the world's not giving up on you. We're here and we're fighting for you.'”

Nugent said the locals are poor by American standards, but they are easygoing and hardworking. Some gather outside the fence, but they are just curious.

"You don't see a lot of begging. If they are asking for something, they are asking for a job," he said. "They want to work and earn what they receive. They are not just looking for a handout.

"They love America. They love Americans. I think they would be the 51st state if we let them," Nugent added and laughed.

But while Nugent joked, it is exactly that sentiment that U.S. officials hope to instill, especially in these years following the earthquake.

"The real value is … we're having incredible positive impact on the lives of disenfranchised Haitians," Dan Foote, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy said during a visit to the site today. "And in doing so, we're also sending the broader message that the United States is a friend of Haiti, and we are going to be here in the good times and the bad.”

Foote called Haiti a "great friend" to the United States. Exercises such as these are critical to maintaining that relationship, he added.

"This is an on-the-ground example of real, tangible assistance to the population," he said.

The task force is commanded by members of the Louisiana National Guard, but troops from other states have joined in for two-week rotations including Florida, Massachusetts, Georgia, North Dakota, Colorado and New York.

The Army Reserve provided military police and engineers. Active-duty Marines provide civil affairs support, and the Air Force provides weathermen and medical staff.

Foreign countries supporting the efforts as an official part of the task force included doctors from Colombia and Canada and engineers from Belize.

Additional support also came from the U.N. peacekeeping force here as Japanese engineers volunteered to help on a project. Policemen from Argentina provided crowd control at medical and dental sites in the cities.

And international nongovernmental organizations such as People to People International and Operation International Children donated 2,500 school supply kits for the task force to distribute.

This year's exercise launched from a similar operation here last year, put in place to help with earthquake relief. Budget cuts already have tightened the belt of this year's operation as it transitioned from operational funding to an exercise with a different funding pot.

An exercise isn’t planned for next year, but one is on the books for 2013, officials said.

Only a handful of events remain before the closing ceremonies next week. The rest of the month will be spent returning the land that the base now sits on to its original condition. The last task force member is due to leave the first week of July after settling all of the contracts and paying the vendors.

But even as task force members prepare to leave, officials agree that the impression made here will last, for many locals, a lifetime.

And, as Washington begins it budget battles and senior Defense Department leaders are forced to make hard funding choices, military and civilian officials here hope that this exercise doesn't end up on the cutting room floor.

"These are the sort of things that don’t create political messages, but create human messages," Foote said. "Our hope here, from my point of things, is that we can continue to do exercises and missions like this into the future, because every time we do that we win a new generation of hearts and minds."

Face of Defense: Cutter Commander Shares Haiti Experience

By Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy Tamargo

U.S. Coast Guard Academy Public Affairs

NEW LONDON, Conn., April 7, 2011 – U.S. Coast Guard officers are presented with many challenges and opportunities. Normal operations may quickly turn into a life or death mission that challenges their training and experience.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Diane W. Durham became the head of the Professional Maritime Studies Department here during the summer of 2010. She leads 17 military and civilian instructors and staff, and oversees the nautical science training of the more than 1,000 members of the academy’s corps of cadets.

A few months earlier Durham had put her experience to the test as commander of the Coast Guard Cutter Forward. She and her crew were pressed into action in response to a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck less than 15 miles from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 12, 2010.

The Forward was on deployment, Durham recalled, and recently had arrived in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when the earthquake occurred.

"The duty section and off-duty crew onboard were jolted by unusual movement of the ship and quickly gathered to respond to an onboard emergency,” she said. “We learned that it was an earthquake, and soon after, we learned of the devastation in Port-au-Prince.

“The crew was recalled from various points around the base,” Durham continued, “and we were underway by 10 p.m. We made best speed through the night.”

Durham’s cutter was the first U.S. vessel to arrive in Haiti for the earthquake response mission.

During the response, Durham said her crew members conducted numerous missions, including search and rescue, air traffic control, port assessments, damage assessment overflights and medical evacuations.

Durham and her crew were recognized for their exceptional work during the response effort. On July 4, 2010, Durham represented the Coast Guard at the White House and was commended by President Barack Obama for the Haiti relief efforts.

“We salute the United States Coast Guard, including a Coast Guardsman who commanded the first U.S. vessel to arrive in Haiti after the earthquake, helping to pave the way for one of the most complex humanitarian efforts ever attempted, Cmdr. Diane Durham,” Obama said.

At the height of the response in mid-January, the Coast Guard had up to eight cutters in Haiti’s ports, in the Caribbean and in Florida waters. Air assets included a HC-144A Ocean Sentry aircraft, five HC-130 Hercules aircraft, three MH-65 Dolphin helicopters and three MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters operating in Haiti with more than 800 Coast Guard members providing assistance on shore, afloat on the cutters and in the air.

Durham said she emphasized an open and honest command climate built on trust and communication.

“Being on a cutter requires people to embody the term shipmate," she said. “You live together, work together, struggle together and succeed together for long periods of time. You become a family.”

This command climate directly impacted Durham’s crew.

“Commander Durham is very dedicated to the overall mission of the Coast Guard. I have sought after her council for stressful situations on several occasions,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Nicole Rose, the command chief on the Forward. “What makes a good leader is looking out after your people, dedication, motivation, compassion and the ability to expertly handle difficult situations. This is a talent too few have and many more need.”

Durham has served more than nine years at sea during her 21-year career on the Coast Guard cutters Rush, Decisive, Resolute, Tampa and Forward. Durham said she now brings her knowledge and experience from the fleet into the classroom to train and teach cadets, officer candidates, prospective commanding officers and executive officers.

“It’s important to have officers from the fleet as instructors because they know what is expected of junior officers in their first tours and what will help us achieve success when we enter the workforce,” said First Class Cadet Amanda Cousart, a marine and environmental science major at the academy. “Teaching cadets and other Coast Guard personnel is a way to make sure all of the information Commander Durham has learned is passed on so future officers can make the Coast Guard thrive.”

First Class Cadet Dana Prefer echoed Cousart’s sentiments.

“I think that Commander Durham is a wealth of knowledge because she has done almost everything you can do in the afloat community,” Prefer said. “When she told us about her past jobs, I was very impressed that she held that many command positions and highly-sought-after billets.

I believe that due to her diverse career path,” Prefer added, “she is able to get through to her students effectively, and I see her as a very good model of what a leader should be.”