Airborne Troops Make Food Drop Offs To Haitians
By R.Gregg, The Raleigh Telegram
Thursday, February 4, 2010
PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI -
In the 12 minute video below, Captain Alexander talks about how they distribute food and also we show conditions in the camps.
As you can see in the photos to the right and in the video, the conditions in the camps are such that people are sleeping under whatever cover they can find, using bedsheets, tarps, or anything to keep out of the hot sun.
As the United Nations, Red Cross, and other organizations have been focusing on the large tent camps that have thousands of people camping there, Captain Alexander said he is focusing on the smaller camps of 1000 people or less in his sector that have not received aid. The smaller camps are harder to find and are under the radar compared to the massive tent cities that hold as many as 20,000 people.
A Set Plan That Works
Before the soldiers go in to drop off food, they usually show up the day or night before to scout the area and figure out the best ways to enter and exit the camp and also how to maintain crowd control.
They will usually post guards at the entrance to the camps, and then distribute food or make arrangements for the leaders in the camp to distribute food to the people.
Captain Alexander said they just can’t back up a truck and drop off supplies en masse.
“I don’t want to just drop it and leave,” he said.
Based on experience over the last couple of weeks, the soldiers now have a set routine down pat that works well.
After coordinating with Haitian leaders in the camp to set a time, they walk into the camp on foot, set up a perimeter around the camp to close it off from the outside, and close the front gates to keep a flood of people from pouring in.
They then have the intended recipients in the camp line up along a wall or away from the loading area.
Captain Alexander will then call in the truck containing the food packets, which are Meals Ready to Eat (MRE’s) in orange plastic bags. Once the truck enters the camp, they recruit people in the camp to help pass out the food to people in line one or two at a time.
Sometimes people receive one or two packets of food per person, depending on supplies at the moment and they are then sent away from the line.
Captain Alexander and his men have also been trying to get leaders in each camp to distribute food themselves in order to get out as much food as possible.
In the few cases where the soldiers leave food with camp leaders, they will come back the next day to make sure that the food was distributed properly and check with the occupants of the camp.
According to the captain, the biggest need right now is food as there are water trucks giving away water on a regular basis.
“Right now they’re doing a great job with water,” he said.
Working With Other Agencies
Coordinating efforts to increase efficiency and also to make sure that all camps receive aid has been a key goal for Captain Alexander.
During trips with this reporter, soldiers from the 2nd of the 319th met with United Nations personnel, Israeli aid groups, the International Red Cross, a Turkish Crescent group, a group from the US called Minusta, an Irish aid group, an American group of doctors from New York City, and others in order to coordinate efforts and to keep from duplicating missions.
“We just try to work together and cooperate,” said Captain Alexander. “We continue to improve and work with other agencies.”
They have also been trying to make sure that the small local hospitals have supplies as well and soldiers dropped off water at a small hospital run by doctors from Cuba and another larger hospital at the edge of their district.
Armed Gangs In The City
Although drop-
During one drop-
When the Airborne paratroopers went to the corner of the camp where the men were trying to get in, the armed Haitians fled, as they likely did not want to engage trained Army professionals with automatic weapons.
The soldiers believe that the men were part of an armed gang that occupied a camp next door.
While Haitian gangs are not targeting American soldiers, who are under order not to fire unless fired upon directly, they are a problem for the Haitian people who are unarmed.
Captain Alexander showed this reporter a letter from the pastor of a church and leader of an orphanage who pleaded for the US military to increase patrols in his area of the city.
“I humbly request daily patrols to our facility to keep us safe,” said Pastor Dreibelbis.
The area that the pastor was referring to is known as the Citi Soleil or “Sun City” and is outside of their assigned sector, but Captain Alexander said he was familiar with the neighborhood as it has a tough reputation.
Located in the northwest part of the city north of the old military base, the gangs in the area are armed with medium machine guns and even the police are hesitant to go there.
“The prisoners got free [during the earthquake] and they’ve started a new turf war,” said Captain Alexander.
Security For Other Agencies
In addition to dropping off food and water and other duties, the 82nd Airborne is providing security for other aid agencies operating in the area.
While this reporter was embedded with the 2nd of the 319th, Captain Alexander’s men responded to a report of a riot next to the secure United Nations compound. Within just a few minutes of the call, the captain had six trucks, several Humvees, and 51 paratroopers on location at the site of the call on the other side of their sector.
Although the report proved to be false and was just a misreport based on a crowd of people gathering when the Brazilian troops dropped off food, he said he was pleased with how quickly they reacted.
“Most of the time you show up and there’s nothing to it, but you never know,” he said. “I was proud of my battery, that was extremely fast.”
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