Operation Unified Response

Medics from the US Army's 95th Civil Affairs Brigade deliver a baby during relief efforts. The mother named the female child "Samantha" after Uncle Sam.

Operation Unified Response was the United States military's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[1] It was conducted by Joint Task Force Haiti and commanded by United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) Military Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Ken Keen, although the overall U.S. government response was headed by Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).[2]

The response included personnel from all branches of the military.[3] The U.S. Navy listed its resources in the area on 19 January as "17 ships, 48 helicopters and 12 fixed-wing aircraft" in addition to 10,000 sailors and Marines.[4] By 26 January, the U.S. military had 17,000 personnel in and around Haiti.[5] Between the beginning of relief efforts and 18 February the US Air Force had delivered nearly 6,000 support members and 19 million pounds of cargo while evacuating 15,000 American citizens and conducted aeromedical evacuations for 223 critical Haitian patients.[6]

Elements of the mission included flying in relief supplies, flying out evacuees, including medical evacuees, loading helicopters with supplies at the PAP airport, and then dropping supplies at various points around Port-au-Prince, airdropping supplies from fixed-wing aircraft, establishing a field hospital near the Port international de Port-au-Prince, repairing a pier at the port, providing imagery from satellite, Global Hawk, and U-2 assets.

  1. ^ Air Mobility Command Public Affairs (17 January 2010). "AMC Airmen critical to Operation Unified Response assisting Haiti earthquake victims". U.S. Air Force. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  2. ^ "Joint Task Force-Haiti launched". KBH News.com. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  3. ^ Melia, Mike; Paul Haven (21 January 2010). "U.S. presence grows as aid trickles into Haiti". Marine Corps Times. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  4. ^ U.S. Fleet Forces Public Affairs (12 January 2010). "U.S. Fleet Forces Commander Provides Update on Navy Contributions to Haiti Relief Efforts". Navy.mil. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  5. ^ Numbers tell stories of horror, heroism in Haiti, CNN, 26 January 2010
  6. ^ Stock, Jon (18 February 2010). "AMC Total Force provides hope to Haiti". Air Mobility Command Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2010.