Humanitarian supplies airlifted from Singapore onto US navy

• sbst275

  4 Jan 05, 11:27

  SINGAPORE : Humanitarian relief donations have been airlifted from Singapore onto US naval ships heading to tsunami-hit areas in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
  
  With a large volume of relief supplies creating a bottleneck, it is now a logistical challenge to get them delivered to the survivors.
  
  US Marine helicopters are more accustomed to transporting troops; instead they are carrying much needed relief supplies, like bottled water picked up from Guam.
  
  As soon as the relief aid arrived at Singapore's Paya Lebar Air Base, it was airlifted by choppers and stored onboard the USS Bonhomme Richard.
  
  US Rear Admiral Chris Ames, commander of the Expeditionary Strike Group 5, said, "We have capabilities across the strike group that is quite unique and particularly well suited for this type of humanitarian assistance disaster relief operation.
  
  "We have about 29 helicopters that are heavy- and medium-lift capable and they can provide the reach to take the disaster food, water that are piling up across the region and distribute them into the remote sections where they are most devastated by the tsunami."
  
  The USS Bonhomme Richard left its home port in San Diego in early December for its scheduled deployment in the Persian Gulf when it received its new mission order: To pick up humanitarian relief supplies along the way to the tsunami-hit areas.
  
  There are more than 2,000 US Marines in the strike group and they will be doing more than just make a quick delivery.
  
  Said Colonel Thomas Greenwood, commanding officer, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit,
  "We come with a lot of trucks, a lot of equipment which can make water, a lot of food and engineering gear when we go ashore in Sri Lanka.
  
  "We cover the spectrum of not just delivering food and water, medical supplies but we can also remove debris from the roads and provide limited medical support and infrastructure improvements."
  
  The USS Bonhomme Richard also has a 60-plus strong medical staff manning four operating rooms.
  
  Its hospital ward is also capable of taking in nearly 60 patients. - CNA
• sbst275

  4 Jan 05, 11:53

  They used the CH-53 Super Stallion... If I am not wrong, it is the 1st time it is appearing in Singapore.... Shuttled food between PLAB and the carrier in sea
• spencer99

  4 Jan 05, 12:30

  Isn't if more efficient if the Bon Richard come alongside CAB and we load it off the berth.
  
  OR we load it onto some LCUs or Fast craft and then docked on the Bon Richard (got landing dock).
  
  Come on.... we are not talking about specialized stores... just packaged food and water... surely we don't have to waste aviation gas to load them onto the Bon RIchard.
  
  At the disaster site can understand.. with the roads being covered by debris might need airlift to drop the supplies directly into each disaster site.
  
• sbst275

  4 Jan 05, 12:31

  Originally posted by spencer99:

  Isn't if more efficient if the Bon Richard come alongside CAB and we load it off the berth.
  
  OR we load it onto some LCUs or Fast craft and then docked on the Bon Richard (got landing dock).
  
  Come on.... we are not talking about specialized stores... just packaged food and water... surely we don't have to waste aviation gas to load them onto the Bon RIchard.
  
  At the disaster site can understand.. with the roads being covered by debris might need airlift to drop the supplies directly into each disaster site.
  

  Helicopters are better as the boat can still move to the area