Haiti SITREP

USS BATAAN and the 22 MEU reached its staging point off the coast of Haiti approximately 1500 yesterday. We are currently providing support to humanitarian efforts on the ground, via our helos and landing crafts, and have sent marines and aid throughout yesterday afternoon. The Comfort has been on our tail since this thing started and should arrive tomorrow.

The USNS Comfort is ready and capable. The floating hospital has a total patient capacity of 1,000, and is complete with its own intensive ward, radiology, casulty reception, dental, and optometry lab. Another great feature of the ship is its capability to make up to 300,000 gallons of fresh water daily. USS Bataan has similar capabilities. I have personally toured the ship myself and I am confident in its abilities to provide support in this endevour. This isn't the first time the ship has been sent to Haiti. Operation Sea Signal 1994, Operation Uphold Democracy 1994, and Operation Continuing Promise since 2007.

Researching on internation efforts; apparently a plane, originally from Iran, landed in Haiti on January 18. Open Source (news) reports the cargo plane left Saturday and via-Caracas, Venezuela, landed on Monday, bringing 30 tonnes of food, medicine, tents, and a 30 medical and search-and-rescue team. No reporting from any major news source yet, and anything out of Iranian or Arab news reporting is always viewed cautiously. Hopefully nothing has been exagerrated or lied about, for no matter where it comes from, Haiti needs all the help it can get.

Almost There

While not close enough yet to provide support, USS BATAAN is currently less than 50 nautical miles from Port-au-Prince.

There has currently been news reports circulating that some countries, particularly their leaders, feel that the U.S. is using this humanitarian effort as a cover for its real agenda. Accusations of an American invasion/occupying force have begun to wear away at an already tense coalition of international aid support.

The United States wants to increase troop levels supporting efforts in Haiti to approximately 10,000. This is in no way meant to be viewed as some type of military takeover. Our troops are simply assisting Haitian police, and more specifically, U.N. security forces in maintaining order and providing security at aid distribution points.

Currently there are growing reports of gang activity rising, with men armed with machetes and potentially fire arms, committing carjackings, armed attacks, and specifically looting. There has been a resentment of any type of U.S. presence in Haiti since our country occupied the country twice in 1915. While it is true the U.S. has influenced Haitian leadership that has led to unfavorable results, our purpose here and now is to assist with ongoing humanitarian efforts, aimed at saving as many lives as possible.

International tensions have risen due to our control of the airport in PAP. Currently, we have shifted the priority of incoming of flights to aid support, but the need for security forces and military equipment is still greatly needed in helping the aid workers do their jobs effectively and safely, while also ensuring the safety of Haitian nationals.

Primarily Marines will be deployed to conduct this tasking and they will conduct it professionally and efficiently, helping and protecting the citizens of Haiti, while still protecting each other. In any type of situation, deadly force is authorized as a last means of self defense.

We are not an occupying force in this time of crisis. We are deploying peacekeepers, aid workers, medical staff, food, water, and other means of survival to help a desperate people. This isn't trying to come off as some "poetic propaganda". Continuing reading as I continue to update. If anything, at least watch CNN or Fox News, as we have with us the news media. If anything, especially CNN, they wouldn't shy away from the idea of broadcasting any mistakes or "nefarious deeds" conducted by us.

Hold on Haiti. We're almost there. We're almost there. Image: Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, hand out meals to women and children in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 16, 2010. (DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III)

Imagery Pre and Post Earthquake

Currently having issues posting images as bandwidth on the ship is limited. I will hopefully be able to post the image itself at a later time but can be accessed with the link provided. The damage sustained at the piers is noticeable and the building on the upper right corner is completely gone.

Imagery is UNCLASS and can be accessed here.

BATAAN and the 22 MEU is currently less than 200 nautical miles North of Cuba and continuing southward towards Haiti. Will update accordingly.

Four years down the drain. And I don't regret any of it.

Four years from now, I was on a bus headed for basic training. Now, much like my birthday in Iraq, there is no beer in sight to celebrate the occasion. Still headed to Haiti, obviously, and should get there in a couple days. I'll keep posting and updating how things go.

Bataan Amphibious Relief Ships Onload 22nd MEU Enroute To Haiti

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. – The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU) began onloading approximately 1,700 personnel and their equipment today aboard the ships of the Bataan Amphibious Relief Mission to aid the people of Haiti following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake Jan. 12.

The ships of the relief mission and the 22nd MEU were mobilized and ready to depart their home bases within 48 hours of being notified, and the onload which normally takes two days is being compressed into 16 hours due to the urgency of the situation.

The MEU along with the contingent of ships, which include USS Bataan (LHD 5); USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) and USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), will bring much-needed assets to the Caribbean country to support the disaster relief efforts.

Haiti

Long time no post. A continuing trend, and I apologize. I am currently off the coast of North Carolina, en route to Haiti aboard the USS Bataan, along with the 22 MEU. We are headed to the island nation to assist with Humanitarian efforts in response to a catastrophic earthquake that shook the island apart, leaving a people already stricken with poverty, further destitute and desperate.

As of know, I have no idea what exactly type of assistance we will provide, however this ship has the capability of creating it's own fresh water supply, a complete and competent medical team, and an entire crew of sailors and marines willing to do whatever we can to ensure that help reaches these people.

I will update this as time passes, but unfortunately over leave, I have currently misplaced my personal camera. However I will use photos from other sources. Keep in mind that the pictures may tend to be on the more graphic side, but I will limit the amount of death shown. I do not if I will be boots on the ground or stay on the ship, assisting others from the coast, but I will do my best helping out in this time of crisis.

Good to be back with something to post about.

Fishing and Stuff

This will be my 50th post total. I've kept logs, journals, and online things before, but this is the longest I've ever dedicated to one of them. The last month has gone by at a decent pace; not too slow, not too fast. And while I am curious to see who I'll be working with and what my work will entail back on board my ship, I am still ever hesitant to return to Norfolk. What is keeping me from wanting to go back isn't the fact that my long vacation will come to an end. It's the fact that I will be returning to a place most sailors detest: The Yards. What sounds like a foreboding place out of a fantasy movie, I assure you the place exists. Oh, how it exists.

My experience of the Yards is one of self loathing, depression, drunken brawls, and a place where your very soul is slowly sucked away. While I was there, I was able to achieve 2 stays in the Emergency room, (2 nights in a row for 2 separate reasons), a frantic call to 911, a moment of self reflect where I actually considered my job at Sears was better than what I was currently doing, and the first desire to go to Iraq just to get the Hell away from that place.

While it will be the same place, I know that this go around will be different. I am more mature, smarter, and have a nice shiny second class crow on my sleeve. However, I can't help but think that no matter what they will have me doing, no matter where, I will still think back on what I achieved and accomplished in Iraq, the people I worked with, and what I did every day and sigh a little.

As if it was a sign of things to come, I received an email from my leadership. I got a few extra days and won't have to return till Thursday, vice Tuesday, which makes me a happy sailor. My uniforms are all brand spanking new, cleaned, pressed, hemmed, and patches sewn. I think this is the most squared away I've been my entire career. I've purchased the new blue camies, and while I am not exactly used to the blue digital material, I'm sure I will still look sharp as ever. I'm just happy to finally own a set of dress blues that actually fit.

So what have I done this past month? Well besides a week on the West Coast, not too much. Went fishing with my father, visited some friends, attended a party in DC, and helped around the house the best I could. Now I'm just getting my belongings into a storage unit and then it will be back to Norfolk. Besides all that, I've spent plenty of quality time with my Xbox. Oh how I missed her bliss. Thanksgiving was quiet with neighbors coming over for dinner and talk. Been a nice, relaxing vacation for the most part.

As the days go by, and my return to being a 100% sailor nears, I look forward to doing new things and going to Germany in April. Till then, whatever happens, things could always be worse.

Oh, and the movie 2012 is stupid. Very stupid. Yet, some of the best special effects I've ever seen.