Navy and Marines bridge Haitian divide from government
Haitian volunteers help unload supplies from a U.S. Army landing craft at a Haitian Coast Guard station in Carrefour, Haiti, Jan. 19. Photo by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis
Since the beginning of Operation Unified Response, one of the primary missions of the Navy and Marine Corps civil affairs teams attached to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group is to unite the people and governments of earthquake menaced Haiti together with non-governmental organizations and international aid workers.
Children from Carrefour, Haiti, gather as local leaders conduct a humanitarian aid distribution in the city, Feb. 18. The Marines and sailors of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit transferred primary responsibility for humanitarian aid distribution to the local and national Haitian government throughout the month of February. Photo by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis
Using a facility called a civil military operations center, Marines from 4th Civil Affairs Group, attached to the 22nd MEU and sailors from Maritime Civil Affairs Team 207, worked diligently to bring all these factors together to help organize a combined local and international effort to stabilize the Caribbean nation.
“The mission of the CMOC was to act as a bridge between the people and the local government,” said Staff Sgt. Jerrick D. Croston, a civil affairs team chief with 4th CAG and the 22nd MEU.
The CMOC is located in the town of Carrefour, just outside the nation’s capital city of Port-au-Prince, on Landing Zone Argonaut, a small encampment operated by the Marines and sailors of Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 22nd MEU.
At the facility, civil affairs personnel met with town leaders and NGO officials to plan distributions and combined operations for the people of the local area.
“As local Haitians and organizations had needs, they brought them up to the CMOC,” Croston, a Philadelphia native, continued. “The major achievement of the CMOC was getting the mayors [of Carrefour] and the local government to work with the community leaders of Carrefour.”
Croston explained that many of the one million strong population of Carrefour have strong loyalty to a few key leaders in the community, who are mostly pastors from local religious organizations.
“After the earthquake people looked to them,” he added. “So we brought the local leaders and the local government together.”
Bringing the local leaders and their followers together with the Haitian government and several NGOs, the Marines and sailors of the CMOC streamlined the aid process for the people of Carrefour, transferring the primary role of providing humanitarian aid, from the U.S. Military to the Haitian local and national governments.
The civil affairs personnel conducted the operation in multiple-steps, beginning with an assessment phase where the Marines and sailors found out what problems were occurring in the area. Once problems were identified, the personnel worked with Haitian leaders and NGOs to solve the issues.
“At this point we have transitioned the role of the CMOC to the Haitian government and are back in the assessment phase,” Croston explained. “We are making sure the needs are being taken care of.”
Chief Petty Officer Charlotte Reijo, a team leader with Maritime Civil Affairs Team 207, meets with children from Carrefour, Haiti, Jan. 18. Sailors with MCAT-207 and Marine civil affairs specialists with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit conduct operations from a Civil Military Operations Center in Carrefour, aimed at uniting the people of Haiti and the Haitian Government with non-governmental organizations to transfer primary humanitarian aid responsibilities in the area from the U.S. to the local government. Photo by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis
Captain Rebecca A. Popleiski, a civil affairs team leader with 4th CAG and the 22nd MEU, said the group of civil affairs specialists have come a long way in the month they have worked in Haiti.
The Marines began their operations in the towns of Petite Goave, Grand Goave and Leogone before moving to Carrefour. Those three areas had less involvement with community leaders and worked more specifically with NGOs, where as the Carrefour area of operations had a lot more grass-roots involvement, she explained.
“When we pull out of here, all the cities are going to be able to stand on their own,” Popleiski, a Washington D.C. native, explained. “Whether that’s local government or national government … they have stepped up and taken charge.”
With the aid of the Navy-Marine Corps civil affairs teams from the 22nd MEU and Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, the government of Haiti has taken primary responsibility for humanitarian aid distributions in the Carrefour area. Marines and sailors from the 22nd MEU have become a supplementary force as the Haitian Coast Guard and international NGOs take over.
DVIDS
Story by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis
Table of contents for Haiti quake 2010
- Massive earthquake strikes Haiti
- Earthquake in Haiti – aftershocks continue
- Haiti earthquake aid
- Haiti quake damages pile up
- Horror in Haiti – the morning after the quake
- U.S. quickly responds to Haiti quake
- Infrastructure hurdles to Haiti quake relief
- U.S. Coast Guard on location in Haiti right now
- Strong aftershocks continue in Haiti
- PR Guard standing by – Gitmo damaged by Haiti quake
- Paras and Marines on alert for Haiti move
- Earthquake in Haiti update for January 13 evening
- Earthquake in Haiti – January 14 morning update
- Marines ready to assist Haiti after earthquake
- Earthquake in Haiti – Update for January 14 evening
- FEMA report on Haiti relief efforts for January 15
- Out of the night sky – Air Force secures Port-au-Prince airport
- Earthquake in Haiti – January 15 evening
- Haiti Quake Relief Funding Numbers
- But people are dying – thoughts on the Haitian disaster
- Aftershocks continue to rock Haiti
- Earthquake in Haiti – Update for January 16
- Haiti Quake Relief Funding Numbers for Jan 16
- Hospital ship Comfort sails for Haiti
- Baby delivered during Haiti evacuation
- Navy is delivering supplies to Haiti victims
- Hospital ship Comfort racing to Haiti
- Country club serves as forward base for Paras in Haiti
- Situation at Port-au-Prince airport improving
- Sanjay Gupta Assists Vinson Medical Team in Haiti
- USAID Update on the Haiti relief operation January 18
- Air drop to aid Haitian victims of earthquake
- Haiti Quake Relief Funding Numbers for Jan 18
- Earthquake in Haiti – morning update January 19
- Los Angeles rescuers save Haitian woman
- Stories from Haiti – update for Jan 20 morning
- American volunteers in Haiti
- American donations for Haiti earthquake relief – Jan 21
- Haiti earthquake relief update for Jan 21
- Haitians receiving care and support aboard Bataan
- Hospital ship Comfort healing, hugging Haitians
- Brief update on Navy and Marine relief efforts in Haiti Jan 23
- Fort Hood veterinary services unit sent to Haiti
- Harbor damage in Port-au-Prince
- American giving for Haiti relief as of January 25
- Comparison of Haiti donations to Katrina and the tsunami
- Haitian Coast Guard base becomes hub for quake relief
- Comparison of Haiti donations to Katrina and the tsunami Jan 28
- High tech warbird aids Haiti relief efforts
- High-speed ferrys en route to Haiti
- Southern Command briefs on Haiti situation
- Paras opening roads in Haiti
- Aid from Dominican Republic via Kentucky National Guard
- Haitian assistance stories for February 3
- Haitian relief efforts slow
- Marine calls Leogane Haiti home
- Haiti earthquake relief update for February 7
- Army medics at work in Haiti relief effort
- Haiti earthquake relief funding update for February 14
- Keeping Haitians informed
- A tent means a lot to Haitian orphans
- Italian troops aid paras in Haiti rubble clearance
- Landslide in Haiti tests Special Ops rescuers
- Navy and Marines bridge Haitian divide from government
- Haitian earthquake relief – update for February 28
- Haitian earthquake update – March 4
- Air Guard Engineers Help Haitians
- Things are baaaaad in Haiti
the attachments to this post:
Children from Carrefour Haiti
Chief Petty Officer Charlotte Reijo
Haitians help unload relief supplies
[...] from America’s North Shore Journal Chuck’s got a lot of good stories posted about the relief effort. Start with this one. [...]