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| USNS Comfort receives supplies during an underway replenishment with USNS Robert E. Peary |
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| MV Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr. |
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| A barge carrying Marine Corps vehicles approaches USNS Pfc. Dewayne T. Williams |
"We currently have an aircraft carrier in Japan, and another is on the way," Obama said. He said another ship was heading to US territories in the Mariana Islands to "assist as needed."Why?
A Pentagon spokesman said the two carriers were the USS George Washington, which is based at Yokosuka near Tokyo, and the USS Ronald Reagan, which was en route to South Korea for exercises and has been redirected to Japan.
Unless their are security concerns that I'm not aware of then what the Japanese people really need is (in addition to the Marines already on the island)...
1. Activation of the 82nd's Ready Brigade. I understand that its been stood up again after a hiatus. Now is as good a reason as any to test its capabilities.
2. A hospital ship to treat injured civilians. Local hospitals are state of the art but are suffering from rolling blackouts...possibly a shortage of personnel due to the tremendous loss of life and also possibly damage from the earthquake and tsunami. A hospital ship would be a life saver.
3. An MPF ship. The Marines have alot of helicopters in the area. The Japanese forces can provide even more...what they might lack is organic heavy equipment. If roads are impassable then we're talking weeks, maybe months until they can be repaired. Rescue operations will require cranes, bulldozers and other equipment to start the search. The Japanese authorities can start working north from unaffected areas but to get to the zone quickly a port must be established. Since they were damaged then the amphibious capabilities of the MPF and their assorted equipment must be brought to bear.
An aircraft carrier is the last thing Japan needs...unless they're worried that N. Korea is about to do something stupid.
Availability.
ReplyDeleteThe Carriers are already either there or in route, and the are fully crewed. It could take weeks to get a hospital ship there. USNS Mercy is currently in San Diego, likely with only a skeleton crew aboard (i.e. no doctors).
MPF ships have preposition stocks onboard for BCT sets, right? M1s and Bradleys wouldn't be very useful here. MSC ships would be valuable, if loaded with relief supplies, but that would take time as well.
Seems like a carrier has TONS ways it can assist. Helos & cargo planes, food & medical supplies, POWER (if there's a way to supply shore with it).. 5000 people that can offload and assist.
ReplyDeleteJesterToo hit it right on the head. POWER. One of the biggest complications to thwart recovery efforts after a massively destructive event, especially one that destroys the infrastrucure of power plants (Nuclear Powerplants offline due to partial meltdowns?) is power generation. The temps have been just above freezing, and they need lights and communications and some way to heat the refugee centers. Hey, let's ship them a couple of nuclear reactors! Guess what, we can in the way of the CVN Reagan. Plus lots of Medical personnel, and Air assets for recon, air sampling for Radiation plumes, and rapid delivery and deployment of rescue teams. But most inportantly, MAN-power on the order of a few thousand personnel that are completely self sufficient(unlike all the civilian rescue people who will show up, requiring the local infrastructure to support them in many ways).
ReplyDeleteThere is a big incongruity about the first photo. T-AH would easily take 2 week to come out of ROS, loadout and transit to Japan. So I don't see her beign called up.
ReplyDeleteT-AKE are "service unique" ships i.e. the load they carry and how the deliver it is totally wrapped around naval warships and UNREPs.
Power it a generalization. Sure CVNs have crews i.e. manpower. But how many of them can actually be used in DR? Perhaps a quarter. Sure the carriers have aircraft, but only the helos can land in disaster zone. The CVN will end up being a big lily pad as the carrier off Haiti was.
MPS bring much to help out. The Naval Support Element incluces much SEABEE equipment, the ships have landing craft and are the ONLY ones with INLS pontoons oboard to make up small piers and ferries to/from shore. Depending on the ship there is an Expeditionary Medical Facility in the cargo. MPS lack organic helo capability.
In other words, neither warship or sealif ships have a lot of relief supplies, but MPS have the heavy gear which cannot be flown in easily.
And when the warships go away the sealift ships can remain to support the effort.