Local military providing aid in Haiti

NORFOLK

Sailors and Coast Guardsmen from the Hampton Roads area will play a critical role in the U.S. effort to deliver humanitarian assistance to Haiti, with thousands of locals on standby to deploy to the impoverished country and some already there.

At least four Norfolk-based ships received orders Wednesday to prepare to help in the recovery effort, said Ted Brown, a spokesman for Norfolk's Fleet Forces Command. The amphibious assault ship Bataan, the guided missile cruiser Normandy and the dock landing ships Fort McHenry and Carter Hall will probably leave by Friday.

Expeditionary forces based at the Little Creek campus of the Joint Expeditionary Base also are standing by to deploy, Brown said.

Several U.S. Coast Guard ships already have left for Haiti. The Portsmouth-based cutter Forward, which arrived in Port-au-Prince early Wednesday, was among the first American responders.

The Forward's Cmdr. Diane Durham, speaking by phone Wednesday afternoon, described the damage her crew has witnessed as "catastrophic." Piers, buildings and cranes at the capital's main ports have collapsed. She said about half of a local, 80-man coast guard contingent in Port-au-Prince is dead.

"It's just devastation everywhere," she said.

So far, the Forward's 110-person crew has spent most of its time assessing damage, working with local authorities and ferrying supplies and people by helicopter and with small boats, Durham said. Though most piers in the area have been destroyed, the bay appears clear to receive ships carrying aid, she said.

"All U.S. Coast Guard personnel have been reported safe," she added.

The Forward was moored in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when the earthquake struck. Durham said her crew felt the ground shake and immediately began preparing to leave.

It's unclear how long the Forward and other U.S. military ships might be asked to stay in the area, officials said.

Other Coast Guard ships that were making their way toward Haiti on Wednesday included the cutter Valiant, homeported in Miami; the cutter Tahoma, based in Portsmouth, N.H.; and the cutter Mohawk, from Key West, Fla.

Two C-2A Greyhound aircraft from Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40 are scheduled to leave Norfolk Naval Station this morning with personnel and supplies for the relief effort, Naval Air Force Atlantic said.

Additional Navy ships that have been asked to prepare to deliver humanitarian assistance include the frigate Underwood, based in Mayport, Fla., and the hospital ship Comfort, homeported in Baltimore.

The San Diego-based aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, which left Norfolk on Tuesday after finishing its midlife overhaul, has been redirected to load relief equipment and supplies and will arrive off the coast of Haiti today, the military said.

More than 100 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 73rd Infantry also will deploy today and the rest of the battalion of about 800 soldiers will  deploy Friday, the Associated Press was reporting.

The 82nd's 2nd Brigade is the U.S. military's global response force. The unit has been on standby since June, ready to deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours.

Corinne Reilly, (757) 446-2949, corinne.reilly@pilotonline.com