Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: amdcad!ehr@uncecs.edu (Ernest H. Robl) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: use of military resources in natural disasters Message-ID: <9872@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 3 Oct 89 13:07:03 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Lines: 77 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Ernest H. RoblThis may be a bit of a stretch for this newsgroup, but it does touch on the role of the military in peacetime and the discussion on the future of the military in previous articles. There's been considerable reporting on the news about the displeasure of both individuals and government officials in the areas hit by Hurricane Hugo about the speed -- or rather lack of the same -- in Federal assistance. One of the things I had been looking for -- and of which I have seen little evidence in news reports -- would have been a major use of military resources. No, I'm not talking about soldiers to help keep order. Rather, it appears that the requirements for dealing quickly with a major natural disaster are much the same as the requirements for operating a major military presence in a hostile environment. The military -- particularly the Army -- has all sorts of highly mobile communications gear, portable generators capable of supporting fairly large bases, and, of course, all types of field kitchen facilities for feeding large numbers of people. It also has stockpiles of tents, kots, field sanitation equipment, etc., which can at least provide basic protection from the elements. It has vehicles well suited to travelling through all types of terrain and a substantial helicopter airlift capability. Yet, based on the news reports that I've seen, very little of this capability was used. Not only would this use have provided an excellent public relations boost for the forces involved, it would also have served as a good "rapid deployment" test. One of the reasons that I bring this up is that some 20 years ago -- forgive me if a few of the facts are a bit hazy, but this is all from memory -- while stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C., I was on one of the first aircraft (military or otherwise) to land at Gulfport, Miss., after Hurricane Camille hit the area. (I was an information specialist at the headquarters public information office, and my job was to write about and photograph activities of the Army personnel in the disaster area. My stories and photographs went out as news releases to a variety of media, and were also used in the Ft. Bragg newspaper as well as in civillian newspapers in the Fayetteville area.) The plane that I was on carried both field telephone switching equipment and generator gear. Other planes in the same flight also brought down similar gear from the Ft. Bragg/Pope AFB area. One of the stories that I recall doing while in the Gulfport area was on how well Vietnam type airlift capabilities had been adapated to the disaster. Three major types of helicopters were used as follows: Light observation helicopters did the first survey work, touching down at many isolated farms to check on the condition of the occupants and to see what types of supplies were needed. UH-1s then followed up on these initial reports (mostly made by radio), bringing in supplies or making medical evacuations. These helicopters operated out of quickly set up forward staging areas which were in turn supplied by the larger Chinook cargo helicopters which ferried supplies in from the airport. My basic question is this: Why weren't the military capabilities used this time? A week after the storm hit, I saw reports of FEMA workers having victims fill out forms by *flashlight* lighting at assistance centers. Is there a national policiy for the use of military units in such situations? (I assume there isn't.) And, who makes the decision to commit military resources? Does this have to come from the President? Just some things to think about. -- Ernest My opinions are my own and probably not IBM-compatible.--ehr Ernest H. Robl (ehr@ecsvax) (919) 684-6269 w; (919) 286-3845 h Systems Specialist (Tandem System Manager), Library Systems, 027 Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706 U.S.A.