Haiti wrapup - The Marine Air-Ground Task Force at its best

The ground was still shaking when the Marines of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit were loading their ships to race to the aid of the disaster-stricken people of Haiti. They worked all night and were underway by dawn, steaming at full speed on a thousand-mile journey toward the Caribbean Island.

The sailors and Marines of 22nd MEU had only just returned from a seventh-month deployment for the Middle East. Many had just returned from post-deployment leave. Colonel Gareth Brandl, a veteran of the fighting in Fallujah, commanded the 22nd MEU. Last week, I had the opportunity to speak with Colonel Brandl and his Operations Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Owen.

They told me that when their Marines landed near the epicenter of the disaster, they found the people still in a state of shock, wondering if more earthquakes would destroy what little was left of their lives. The town of Leagon had been 80% destroyed and the people stayed out of the remaining structures for fear that another aftershock would bring that building crumbling down too.

Brandl’s first challenge was to quickly assess what the people needed most and where it was needed. His orders were to provide food, water, medical supplies and then shelter to the people of Haiti, who were all sleeping in the open-air. The Marines of 22nd MEU landed along a 60km shoreline just south and west of Port-au-Prince. They worked quickly to establish helicopter landing zones and then three separate beach landing sites. Some of the first helicopter flights brought fresh water ashore. Food and shelter followed soon after.

The Navy/Marine, Blue/Green team brought their littoral capabilities to the area, quickly relieving some of the pressure on the overloaded Port-au-Prince airport and port facility. With the arrival of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, additional relief supplies could be ferried ashore at the Marines’ landing zones and through the beach landing sites. Once the Navy and Marines had offloaded their equipment and personnel, USS Carter Hall headed for Guantanamo and loaded up, bringing hundreds of additional pallets of relief supplies back to Haiti.

In addition to the logistic effort, Brandl’s Battalion Landing Team provided a security force to the stricken area southwest of Port au Prince. Their mere presence insured order. The people rebounded quickly and tried to return to everyday life. There was literally no violence in Brandl’s area.

The real success was in providing medical support to the people. Bataan brought a medical capability not previously available. Casualties of the initial trembler were air-lifted to Bataan’s surgical facility where young and old alike were treated and nursed back to health. Over the weeks, many international organizations moved in with medical assistance, and today, Colonel Brandl told me that “there are more medical facilities in the country than there were pre-earthquake.”

By this writing, most of the Marines of the 22nd MEU have returned to Camp Lejeune. They can be proud of their most recent accomplishment. They have shown that our Navy/Marine team can provide unequaled assistance to disaster areas on a moments notice. They have shown the versatility and flexibility of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force. And, they can all be proud that they saved an untold number of lives.

Now, they await there next mission.