By: Cpl. Eric D. Arndt, Exercise Cobra Gold 2008 Consolidated Joint Information Bureau
UTAPHAO ROYAL THAI AIRFIELD, Thailand (May 14, 2008) – The U.S. military continues to ramp up aid efforts in Burma after Tropical Cyclone Nargis – a storm system which has caused more than reported 32,000 deaths and thousands more missing – sending five flights May 14 to Rangoon with humanitarian aid supplies.
The majority of the boxes the military delivers, however, of intricately, efficiently packed essentials, comes from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
According to Staff Sgt. Jacob A. Reichert, the air delivery paraloft chief with Combat Logistics Regiment 3, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, the supplies are delivered here and quickly sorted and palletized to meet the immediate needs of any aid shipment.
“I try to keep sixteen pallets ready to go at all times,” he said, gesturing to a central covered structure in an empty lot currently being used for the selection, sorting and staging of various humanitarian relief packages. “We need to be ready at all times, so when a mission comes down we can load up instantly.”
The goods are unloaded from various flights coming into the airfield, which are then carried on a heavy forklift to the area and stacked methodically to meet height and weight requirements for Marine Corps KC-130J Hercules and Air Force C-130 aircraft which transport the aid.
The supplies inside are many, but they are all designed around the same basic goal – meeting the bare requirements of human life.
USAID has provided food, clean water, shelter construction supplies, and personal health and wellness items like hygiene kits and plastic water containers that stack in their shipping boxes and can expand to hold ten gallons of water, according to Laura Chapman, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Burma Disaster Assistance Response Team logistics coordinator.
“The hygiene kits can meet the requirements of a family of five for two weeks,” Chapman said. “There is also plastic sheeting that’s bright on one side to reflect sunlight to prevent dehydration, but is also waterproof to protect against rainy conditions.”
As of May 14, the U.S. had shipped more than 197,000 pounds of relief supplies on 46 pallets in eight transport flights, and continues to stay ready for the days and weeks ahead.