14 March 2011

U.S. Military, Civilian Forces Provide Aid for Japan

U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS Blue Ridge move humanitarian relief supplies across the ship’s flight deck for Japan.

By MacKenzie C. Babb
Staff Writer

Washington — U.S. military and civilian forces are working with their Japanese counterparts to provide humanitarian relief in the aftermath of devastating earthquakes and a tsunami, according to General Burton Field, commander of U.S. Forces Japan.

“The U.S. military stands closely together with our ambassador, our embassy and our other U.S. agencies to provide the fullest possible support to both the people and the government of Japan,” Field said March 14 in Tokyo. He and U.S. Ambassador John Roos held a press conference on U.S. aid to Japan following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit March 11.

Field said the U.S. military response includes efforts from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. He called their coordinated efforts “tremendously impressive,” and commended military personnel for their rapid, effective and “unbelievably caring” missions to save survivors.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is coordinating the U.S. government response to the disaster. Its Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance worked with the embassy in Tokyo to provide an initial $100,000 in immediate disaster relief assistance, and has since provided more than $640,000 to support the USAID disaster assistance response teams on the ground.

USAID has deployed two urban search-and-rescue teams, comprised of about 150 personnel and 12 dogs trained to detect survivors. The teams landed March 13 at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan.

According to a March 13 statement from the White House, the U.S. departments of Energy, Health and Human Services, Defense and State, as well as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, are working together to support their Japanese counterparts.

“We have offered our Japanese friends whatever assistance is needed as America will stand with Japan as they recover and rebuild,” the press secretary’s statement said.

General Field said there is “tremendous devastation” along much of the Japanese coastline, where the earthquake, its aftershocks and the tsunami have “wreaked havoc.”

But even in the hardest-hit areas, he said, the Japanese people “are already beginning to dig their way out of this disaster, and are well on their way to establishing how they’re going to recover and move on.”

The Department of Defense said March 13 that U.S. troops stand ready to offer a wide range of equipment and air, sea and ground capability. They have already delivered more than 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms) of rice and bread to those most affected by the disaster.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)