I'm a long-time lurker, new to posting, hope it's okay to connect this to a few recent popular threads.
I was wondering HOW we got the food drops into the Middle East, so I did some googling, cutting, and pasting.
Here’s a collection of snips from military and government websites (links included) addressing the US’s ability to deliver humanitarian aid
1. From Defense Logistic’s Website: A discussion of U.S.’s ability, experience, and procedures to deliver humanitarian aid
Another great tool used in Operation Iraqi Freedom is the DLA contingency support team (DCST). A DCST is a total force package of active duty and Reserve component military personnel and civilians assigned to DLA from all of the services. DCSTs deploy to the theater of operations and work closely with the logistics planners there. They are the main logistics cell in theater, deployed to help expedite sustainment requirements. In April <2003>, DLA had more than 70 people in the Iraqi theater of operations, about 30 percent of whom were Army personnel.
<snip>
As the fighting winds down, DLA's support mission in Iraq has not ended. In addition to providing full-service logistics; 100 percent of fuel, protective clothing, and medical supplies; and nearly all of the construction material critical to force protection, DLA also is performing a critical role in humanitarian assistance to Iraqi citizens.
DLA procures and stores humanitarian daily rations (HDRs) for the Department of State and ships them to the region as required. In March, DLA already had delivered to the region over 2.4 million HDRs, enough food to feed the entire population of St. Paul, Minnesota, 3 meals a day for 8 days. One HDR is designed to feed one refugee for an entire day. HDRs are used to feed refugees until they reach a refugee camp.
DLA will continue to support humanitarian relief until nongovernmental aid can assume the mission. DLA also has gained responsibility for cleaning up the battlefields, including removing equipment, debris, and hazardous materials. Source:
http://www.almc.army.mil/alog/issues/JulAug03/DLA_log_B...2. From Tuft’s University:
"As the United States began its military campaign in Afghanistan to oust the Taliban and capture al Qaeda leaders in October 2001, they began a near-simultaneous program to air drop thousands of HDRs to Afghan civilians daily. Between October 7and October 24, 2001, DOD dropped an unprecedented 821,880 HDRs over Afghanistan. 55 Years of drought, failed crops and economic isolation had left the
country facing a potentially devastating food crisis. WFP estimated the drought affected rural population to be between four and six million."
Source:
http://fletcher.tufts.edu/research/2003/BenjaminSklaver...3. From United Nations Nutrition Committee
Source:
http://www.unsystem.org/scn/Publications/RNIS/countries... During the military strikes, the United States has been dropping
interim food relief, in the form of humanitarian daily rations (HDR)
packets. 37,500 were dropped on October 7, and another 37,500 on
October 8. The HDR packets are an interim measure, until adequate
humanitarian relief can be delivered. As Counselor to the President
Karen Hughes said in a news conference on October 8, "we are going to
be clearing the way so we can deliver humanitarian relief."
4. From Department of State Website Timeline: the dates show how quickly we’ve planned and executed in the past. We’ve had YEARS for Homeland Security and FEMA to plan
September 30, 2001:
Administration officials announced that $100 million had been authorized for the relief of Afghan refugees, and that a covert program of support for opposition groups in Afghanistan had been approved.
On various Sunday television news programs, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, Attorney General Ashcroft, and White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card, Jr. warned that terrorist groups eventually might attack the United States with chemical or biological weapons.
<snip>
October 4, 2001:
In a speech at the State Department, President Bush announced an additional $320 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. He said the coalition against terrorism was strong since it was not a religious war but "a war between good and evil."
<snip>
Rumsfeld then went to Cairo to discuss Egypt’s role in the anti-terrorist coalition. He said that relief supplies might be air-dropped into Afghanistan.
<snip>
October 7, 2001:
U.S. and British forces attacked Taliban military targets throughout Afghanistan with bombers and cruise missiles. The thirty targets included airfields, air defense systems, terrorist training camps, and troop concentrations facing Northern Alliance forces. President Bush announced the strikes from the White House Treaty Room at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, and said that he had consulted with Congressional leaders the day before.
<snip>
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added that relief supplies would be air-dropped into Afghanistan, and that there would be radio broadcasts and leaflet drops to encourage defections from the Taliban. Rumsfeld spoke of cooperation with the Northern Alliance, and Gen. Myers hinted that covert operations were in progress in Afghanistan.
Source:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/5889.htm 5. From Rand National Defense Research Institute: Note the short response time
"One of the most visible forms of early assistance by the U.S. military was the airdrop of humanitarian daily rations (HDRs) throughout Afghanistan. These drops began the same day the fighting did, October7, 2001."
Source:
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2004/RAND_MG212.pdf6. From Vought Aircraft Industries Website: describes the equipment we used back then – megadollars spent on it – where was it this week?
On this, see also DU’er LunaSea’s post
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4602869 "C 17 GLOBEMASTER III AIRLIFTER
Fact Sheet
The U.S. Air Force C 17 Globemaster III airlifter is designed to fulfill global airlift needs for many years. It can carry large combat equipment and troops or humanitarian aid directly to small austere airfields anywhere in the world. Vought is the largest structures subcontractor to Boeing on the C-17, performing work at sites in Dallas, Texas, Milledgeville, Ga., and Brea, Calif.
In the Field
The C-17 program began in 1983, making its maiden flight on Sept. 15, 1991.
<snip>
It has supported numerous contingency operations, including flying troops and equipment to Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Joint Endeavor for peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia, and the Allied Force Operation in Kosovo. The C-17 fleet is being used extensively to support the war on terrorism. They have been responsible for the airdrop of more than 2.4 million humanitarian daily rations to refugees in Afghanistan, in addition to moving troops and heavy equipment, and carrying other supplies such as blankets and bulk food. In other humanitarian missions, C-17s delivered hurricane relief supplies to Honduras and Nicaragua.
<snip>
U.S. Air Force Contracts
On May 31,1996, Boeing and the Air Force signed a seven-year $14.2 billion contract to build the next 80 C-17s, starting in 1997, with final deliveries in 2004. With the 40 aircraft previously on contract, the additional buy brought the Air Force C-17 fleet to 120. In addition to the original 120 aircraft, Boeing and the Air Force signed a follow-on procurement contract in August 2002 for 60 more aircraft. Thus, the C-17 fleet will number 180 aircraft by 2008.
Capabilities
The C-17 is a high-wing, four-engine, T-tailed aircraft with a rear-loading ramp. The aircraft is 174 feet long, 55.08 feet high and has a wingspan of 169.75 feet. Maximum payload is 170,000 pounds (about twice that of a C-141B)
With a payload of 160,000 pounds, the C-17 can take off from a runway of 7,600 feet, fly 2,400 nautical miles, and land on a small austere airfield in 3,000 feet or less
<snip>
Combined with the advanced thrust reversers, propulsive lift enables short landings. The thrust reversers are an integral part of the C-17 nacelle. When thrust reversal is initiated, both fan and core exhausts are redirected. Thrust is directed forward and upward through exposed louvers for maximum reverse thrust. During ground operations, the thrust reversers can be deployed with engines idling, directing engine blast away from personnel working cargo.
<snip>
Vought Milestones
In July 1997, Boeing and Vought signed a memorandum of agreement -- valued at $1.9 billion -- for production of major components for 80 additional C-17s over a six-year period. The agreement covers fiscal years 1997-2002 with deliveries continuing into early 2004.
In March 2002, Boeing and Vought signed another agreement to produce components for 60 additional C-17 aircraft. The contract for follow-on aircraft, beyond the current delivery of 120 aircraft, is valued at $1.1 billion. Work on this program will extend C-17 manufacturing at the Dallas and Milledgeville facilities through the year 2008, and the Brea facility through 2007.
In 2002, Vought celebrated delivery of its 100th shipset for the C-17. The finished aircraft rolled out of its hangar in Long Beach, Calif., in October and was delivered to the U.S. Air Force."
Source:
http://www.voughtaircraft.com/newsFactGallery/factsheet...On the same topic, see also
http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/oqmg/Professional_Bulletin/2002/Autumn02/Task_Force_Rigger_Airdrop_Support_for_Operation_Enduring_Freedom.htm7. From Defense Security Cooperation Agency: what we could have dropped in the US Gulf, if we’d been prepared.
NEWS RELEASE
Date: 11 October 2001
Over 100,000 Humanitarian Daily Rations Airdropped to Afghans;
8 Million Distributed Globally Since 1993
(Washington, D.C.) The Department of Defense relief effort in Central Asia has passed a significant milestone. More than 100,000 Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDR) have been distributed to Afghan refugees in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
“The HDR is a nutritious and convenient form of aid which can be delivered anywhere the US Government can get to” said Michael Ritchie, the head of DSCA’s Humanitarian Affairs and Demining Program. “The HDR is acceptable to all cultures. It has a proven track record of alleviating starvation and misery all over the world.”
The HDR was first produced in 1993. The Department of Defense devised it after extensive consultation with a wide variety of expert sources, to include the World Food Program, the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Agriculture. One ration will provide 2300 calories to a refugee, the total daily requirement. The rations are entirely meat-free, and thus are culturally acceptable to people all over the world. HDRs are designed to be fully digestable by people who are suffering the effects of malnutrition.
The HDR can be eaten without heating or without adding any water. It is shelf-stabilized, and does not require any special refrigeration or handling. It can either be delivered as conventional freight, or can be airdropped to people scattered in remote regions. “The HDR is an effective ration to ward off starvation until bulk food can be delivered” said Ritchie. “It can be delivered in a variety of ways and consumed without any preparation.”
Since 1993, over 8 million HDRs have been distributed to refugees and disaster victims around the world. These refugees have been in over 20 countries, to include Bosnia, Cuba, Haiti, Rwanda and Iraq.
More information on the makeup of the HDR can be found on the internet at:
http://www.dscp.dla.mil/subs/rations/meals/hdr.htmSource:
http://www.dsca.osd.mil/PressReleases/hdrs.pdf On the web:
http://www.dsca.osd.mil Media/Public Contact: (703) 601-3670
8. From the White House Website: Pre-invasion planning for delivering of aid to Mid-Eastern gulf – couldn’t we have used Dept of Homeland Security do the same for OUR gulf?
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 24, 2003 Briefing on Humanitarian Reconstruction Issues, 3:40 P.M. EST
(Compiler’s Note: March 19, 2003 was the first day of Operation Iraqi Freedom)
MR. ESKEW: Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Tucker Eskew, Director of the White House Office of Global Communications; thank you for joining us this afternoon.
<snip>
MR. ABRAMS: We go into a situation where we recognize that military action in Iraq, if it is necessary, could have adverse humanitarian consequences. And we've been planning, therefore, over the last several months, an inter-agency effort to prevent or at least to mitigate any such consequences.
<snip>
…the strategy we have for humanitarian relief has six key principles, and I think you've got those before you. The first is to try to minimize the displacement and the damage to the infrastructure and the disruption of services. And the military campaign planning has had -- has been tailored to try to do that, to try to minimize the impact on civilian populations.
We have what is called the humanitarian mapping program, in which the U.S. military has gone to very great lengths to work with humanitarian organizations, international agencies to locate humanitarian sites, key infrastructure, cultural and historical sites, and to protect them to extent that that's possible.
<snip>
Second principle, to rely primarily on civilian relief agencies. And civilian agencies and personnel are in the lead in all the coordinating and planning that we've been doing for about -- I'd say about four months. As a kind of offshoot of the deputies committee, Robin Cleveland and I have co-chaired an interagency group that has been doing this relief and reconstruction planning.
We want to rely primarily on civilian international organizations, which is the standard practice in situations like this: U.N. agencies; NGOs; other governments and their civilian agencies. OFDA, the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, and the Refugee Bureau at State, PRM, have been meeting with representatives of the international aid community for several months now.
These organizations -- the U.N. agencies, the NGOs -- have enormous expertise and capacity. And we're going to try to facilitate and fund their efforts to the greatest extent possible.
<snip>
The role of the U.S. military is not to take a lead role in humanitarian relief activities. It is to facilitate early secure access, to create a humanitarian space, to provide information for U.S. civilian teams -- civilian relief agencies -- to fulfill their humanitarian mandates. There will probably be circumstances where there is no U.N. agency or NGO or civilian capability of any kind at a very early moment if conflict happens. And there, the military may be actually required to provide limited relief because there's no alternative. And with the guidance and assistance of USG civilian relief experts, they'll have to do that. We're going to anticipate that any such period would be short, and that civilian relief agencies would be able to get into those areas quickly.
Third principle, effective civil military coordination. We have been training and preparing a 60-person DART team, disaster assistance response team, which is really about the largest we've ever had. And it would enter liberated areas of Iraq in coordination with U.S. military forces, to, first of all, make an assessment of what are the -- what is the humanitarian situation, to coordinate then U.S. government relief activities that try to resolve whatever problems there are. They will be capable of immediate, in the field grant making. And their job is also liaison with the military, other donors, NGOs, international organizations.
The DART itself is made up of professionals in the field of humanitarian emergencies from several U.S. civilian agencies. And we'll have -- there will be a number of DART teams in the field. Andrew Natsios can say more about that. There are other coordination structures, humanitarian operations centers and civil military operation centers, being established in the region with the cooperation of several neighboring governments.
<snip>
Fourth principle, facilitating IO and NGO operations. We will provide civilian experts to be the liaison with international organizations and NGOs, and to support and staff these coordination centers -- the humanitarian operation center in Kuwait and the civil military operation centers -- so that they are -- this is a customary pattern for NGOs and international organizations to work with the civilian side of U.S. government and they'll continue to do that.
And one of the things that our civilians can do by their own connection with the U.S. military is to provide information about access to particular geographical locations, security in those areas, and information about the populations in those areas that the U.S. military may have found. The DART staff is the primary contact for international organizations and NGOs in the field.
We've given money, we have provided funding to relief agencies so that they can plan, hire staff and pre-position supplies.
<snip>
Fifth, pre-positioning U.S. government relief supplies and response mechanisms. We have been stockpiling blankets, water, ladders, shelter supplies, medicines, other relief items at this point to serve about a million people -- the material in question worth about $12 million. And we're trying to forward-deploy those stockpiles into the region. One example, there are 46, 40-foot long containers of relief supplies en route to warehouses in the Gulf. We are stockpiling and pre-positioning humanitarian daily rations. You may remember those from Afghanistan and previous situations. This is a ration for one person for one day -- the equivalent in calories of three meals. And we're getting up to about 3 million of those pre-positioned.
And we are preparing to undertake immediate rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts to deliver essential services to the Iraqi people. And that means critical infrastructure, health facilities, water and sanitation systems. And electricity is key in all of those.
Finally, sixth, support the resumption of the ration-distribution system. <Compiler’s Note: Oil for Food Distribution> That's a very important item. We want to disrupt that system as little as possible, and get it back on its feet as soon as possible.
<snip>
MR. NATSIOS: I'm Andrew Natsios from AID. Let me first mention that this planning exercise has been going on now since late September. So I've been involved in emergency response now for almost 14 years. We have never had nearly five months advance time before a major emergency, should it happen. And so the amount of time that has gone into this, and the amount of staff that has gone into this has been enormous within AID, and the interagency process.
There are 60 people from the DART team, which comes out of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, which I headed in the first Bush administration. There is staff from Gene Dewey's office and the Refugee Office in the State Department, and the Public Health Service in HHS are on that team, as well.
There are another 140 people working in AID who are technical staff back in Washington, on the planning exercises necessary to make sure all of this happens the way it's supposed to. And the areas that we focus on are first those basic humanitarian requirements that keep people alive and reduce human suffering in any emergency. One is health and medicine, the second is water and sanitation, which are critical issues, particularly in Iraq. Third is food and nutrition. Fourth is shelter. And a fifth is to internally displaced people and, of course, there could be refugee movements, as well, cross border.
And so the amount of time, the amount of preparation, the amount of planning we've done, the amount of staff working on this has been very substantial. I might also add that this is not new -- working with the military in conflicts is something that the U.S. government has been doing for a very long time, since even before the end of the Cold War. You may recall that we had a refugee emergency with about a million Kurds up in the mountains in northern Iraq. There was civil affairs units and military units, AID sent its largest DART team at that time -- in 1991, of 30 people -- that was sent in to work the relief effort there.
We've been in Bosnia and Macedonia and Kosovo, in Haiti, in Panama -- after Noriega. You can go through a list of instances where this has happened before. So this is not a new thing. It's been done before. The mechanisms for coordination within the international institutions have actually been established, they've been tested and they do work, I have to tell you. They've been refined. There are manuals on how the inter-connection between the NGOs, U.N. agencies, the ICRC, military operations and the DART team work in these emergencies. And that is a very important thing because, once again, we're not testing something that's new here.
<snip>
The team will also do assessments, rapid assessments to determine what is needed. We do planning based on scenario building. But the reality is on the ground that you always have to actually see what's happened. And the assessments are then done and then decisions are made about the disposition of relief commodities and resources.
So I think we're in good shape, in terms of the effort that we've put into this exercise, given the amount of time that we've had to think through it. I might also add, we don't know what's going to happen, but contingency planning is what this all about. Whenever we see something may happen, we try to plan for it. Thank you.
MR. ABRAMS: Thanks. Gene, I think you're next. Gene Dewey is Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY DEWEY: The center of gravity of the humanitarian effort is the multilateral system. And that's the case for several reasons. One, the U.N. agencies have been in country for a long time, for years and years. They have systems set up. And they have systems that are particularly appropriate for emergency action.
For example, for the water sector, which is always the most critical sector, the system for that which works best, which is recognized as best, is UNICEF working with NGOs such as Oxfam-UK and other NGOs with the expertise in water. There are other systems for immunization, systems for food distribution. So this is another reason.
<snip>
Basically the functions of our bureau will be to help make coordination work. Our core expertise is the multilateral system. We'll do our best to make the humanitarian operation center and the civil military operations centers just that, civil military and not military operations centers. And we'll be doing our best to bridge those cultures between the civilians and the military, planners and implementers if implementation becomes necessary.
<snip>
MR. ABRAMS: Thanks. Dr. Joseph Collins is Deputy Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations. Joe.
DR. COLLINS: Thanks. Elliott, I came here prepared to say ten things. All of them have been said twice, so let me repeat only about seven of them for the third time.
If the President orders military action, the Department of Defense is prepared for military contingencies, but it's also prepared to support humanitarian relief during combat and to support reconstruction efforts after combat.
Some of the key things that we are able to do in those areas have been mentioned. The first, humanitarian mapping and careful targeting to avoid excessive damage to the civilian population. Secondly, during the combat phase the Department of Defense is ready to assist AID and State in providing humanitarian relief to the people of Iraq.
Thirdly, and if necessary, DOD is ready to provide special services and supplies, such as the famous humanitarian daily rations.
<snip>
Q I have two questions of the briefers. How many refugees are you planning for? How many IDPs? How many DART teams, and where will they go?
MR. NATSIOS: Well, just in terms of the number of DART teams, there is one large team of 60 people that we'll divide into three sub-units. There will be a core headquarters that will control all of the operations. So there will be three teams that will be dispatched to different parts of the country.
I think we're planning for about 2 million, as I recall, internally displaced people and refugees."
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/2003022... 
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