What strikes me about this disaster, and it is true of others as well, is the crucial positive role a disciplined, well commanded (key words!) militry can play in supplying goods and services to victims. With Veterans Day just past, it is worth thinking of what good humanitarian work our military, and others, are doing. Not many aid groups have goodies like aircraft carriers to park offshore....
More US Military aid is arriving. See
More Marines flood typhoon-ravaged PhilippinesThe Pentagon is ordering 900 additional Marines to assist with humanitarian aid efforts in the central Philippines, bringing the total number of U.S. forces in the country to more than 1,000, according to the Pentagon.
The Marine units attached to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) will join the more than 100 troops already on the ground in the Visayas region of the country, which was hammered over the weekend by Typhoon Haiyan.
Along with the additional manpower, eight Marine Corps V-22 Osprey aircraft attached to the 31st MEU will also head over to support airlift operations associated with the U.S. and Philippine-led disaster response mission.
It is worth noting that every USMC
Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) does training and exercises in humanitarian assistance as part of their work up before embarking on a "float" (a cruise on amphibious ships). Humanitarian Assistance is one of the standard missions that an MEU trains for. Generally there are always a couple of MEUs cruising around, typically one in the Western Pacific or Indian Ocean, and in the Atlantic or Mediterranean. The other services also train for these kinds of missions, I just happen to be most familiar with the USMC.
EDIT: The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) mentioned above did a training mission in Humanitarian Assistance just this last August, in Austraila. Here is a link:
Marines demonstrate humanitarian aid capabilities Note the following quote from the article:
"It is the most likely mission the 31st MEU will face because we are in the Asia-Pacific region where typhoons are known to cause problems."