julied

Update on the US Military's Role in Haiti

March 9th, 2010

Approximately 4,500 US troops remain in Haiti, most of them dealing with logistics.

Spc. A. M. LaVey wrote on a the Southern Millitary Commands site, “At the high point of Operation Unified Response, American forces numbered 20,000 and they were responding to about 2,000 incidents a day; today there are about half the number of troops here, and they are responding to under 100 incidents per day .

Army Col. (Dr.) Jennifer Menetrez said via a live blog, “The last patient was discharged from the Comfort on Feb. 27.” Their stay is coming to an end and the 377 TSC Army Reserves out of Belle Chase, LA, with whom they originally travelled to Haiti, have officially taken over command of ) logistics from the 3rd ESC . Many of the NGOs and Haitians worry security will deteriorate with the removal of the troops. Time will tell if the Haitian government is ready to take charge.

Word from the APOD ( Arial Point of Debarkation- base for some of the troops): Even though their tents are much better than the average earthquake victims temporary shelter, they too have been effected by the heavy pours.

Here is a photo set on Flickr of the US Military in action in Haiti, from body recovery at the Hotel Montana to the setting up of the base on the grounds of the Port-au-Prince airport. http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliedermansky/sets/72157623580080258/
images: top- USNS Comfort Ship Off Haiti bottom : Porto-potties on the APOD