13 March 2011

U.S. Mobilizing to Provide Aid Throughout Japan

By Merle Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington — At the request of the Japanese government, the United States is mobilizing military and civilian assistance for relief efforts throughout Japan, U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos said March 12 in Tokyo.

“The Japan Self-Defense Forces are among the most prepared and capable in the world in dealing with a disaster-response situation, and the U.S. military is prepared to augment their efforts with all available assets and equipment upon request,” Roos said at the U.S. Embassy.

“Because of the longstanding and close working relationship between the U.S. military and its Japanese counterparts on a daily basis, the United States military has humanitarian assistance capabilities positioned in the affected regions that are ready to support emergency relief efforts and minimize human suffering,” Roos added.

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, through the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, provided an initial $100,000 in immediate disaster relief assistance, according to an agency fact sheet.

Shortly after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck Japan near Honshu on March 11, the U.S. Air Force began receiving civilian aircraft at the Yokota Air Base. U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine helicopters and transport planes moved immediately from bases in Okinawa to military bases on Honshu, Roos said.

The Navy aircraft carrier group led by the USS Ronald Reagan has arrived off the east coast of Japan to begin support missions along with a U.S. 7th Fleet aircraft carrier group that was already stationed off Japan. All of the military services with capabilities from medical care and communications to civil engineering at bases in Japan have been positioned to offer support as needed.

USAID has been working with the departments of State, Defense, Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to coordinate the U.S. response in support of the Japanese government, USAID said March 12.

Within hours of the earthquake, USAID established a response management team in Washington to help coordinate the U.S. response, and a USAID disaster assistance response team was sent to Japan to work with the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to coordinate U.S. assets, USAID said.

USAID has deployed two urban search-and-rescue (USAR) teams — one from Fairfax County, Virginia, and one from Los Angeles County, California — to Japan comprised of 150 personnel and 12 specially trained dogs to detect survivors of the earthquake. The teams were scheduled to arrive March 13 in Misawa, USAID said.

The Los Angeles USAR team recently returned from duty assisting the New Zealand government following an earthquake that struck in February in Christchurch.

“Upon arrival, the teams will immediately begin the search for live victims alongside the Japanese and international search and rescue teams,” USAID said.

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