January 17, 2010 - An RQ-4 Global Hawk is providing imagery to determine the extent of damage to earthquake-stricken Haiti and usability of its infrastructure, an Air Force official said during a Department of Defense Bloggers Roundtable. "A lot of images of destroyed buildings," said Col. Bradley G. Butz, the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing vice commander. 

They are looking at images of airports to find airfields to land aircraft, he added. The image quality and clarity is good enough whether or not an airfield can accept aircraft. "We've got pretty good coverage of the entire country of Haiti," Colonel Butz said. The Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft with an integrated sensor suite that provides worldwide ISR capability. 

The 480th ISR, based at Langley Air Force Base, Va., is providing its images to U.S. Southern Command officials for use by whomever needs the images, Colonel Butz said. The objective is mass distribution to people and organizations that need the images to support relief and recovery operations.

This is a whole-of-government effort by the United States and also is an international effort, Gates said. U.S. soldiers and Marines will aid the 7,000-member United Nations force and about 2,000 police in providing security. "We are clearly in a position to do more than others, partly by our proximity and partly by our capabilities," Gates said. The key is coordinating the entire effort, he told reporters, and he said the coordination among the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Homeland Security Department, the Coast Guard and the Defense Department "has proceeded very well."  

"Shortly after the devastating earthquake, [the Defense Department] mobilized to save lives and ease the suffering of the victims," Gates said. Army and naval forces, disaster-response teams, portable hospitals, K-9 search-and-rescue teams and relief and medical supplies are streaming in from many nations, Mullen said.  "In this situation, the military is best able to supply security, search-and-rescue capabilities, potable water and medical facilities," the chairman said. The Navy's USS Higgins has joined Coast Guard cutters off Haiti to provide support.  

On Friday morning, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson arrived outfitted with 19 helicopters, 51 hospital beds, three operating rooms, hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per day production capability and a significant capacity to deliver disaster-relief supplies. "A company from the 82nd Airborne Division is on the ground to provide security and also distribution to meet those needs."  

The USS Normandy and the USS Underwood also will arrive shortly, followed by the USS Bataan, USS Fort McHenry and USS Carter Hall carrying the Marines of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. The hospital ship USNS Comfort -- with hundreds of medical personnel, medical capabilities and medical supplies -- will arrive off the coast by the end of next week, Mullen said. These ships, aircraft and troops "also deliver hope, although it seems that supplies and security cannot come quickly enough," the chairman said.  

Gates said he's not worried that the aid effort will be seen as a threat or as a U.S. power grab. "Given the role that we will have in delivering food, water and medical help to people, my guess is the reaction will be one of relief at seeing Americans delivering this kind of help," he said. The United States also is only one of many countries sending aid and personnel to Haiti. Brazil, for example, has many personnel in Haiti and is sending a large amount of aid, he noted.

(See Airmen Deploy To Aid Earthquake Hit Island Of Haiti)