Spc. Lauren Lachney, a native of Opelousas, La., prepares to place a Royal Building System vinyl concrete mold during Task Force Bon Voizen April 29.

For the second time in under a year, Louisiana National Guard troops are heading up a joint humanitarian training exercise involving National Guard units from several states, active duty Army, the Army Reserve, Air Force, Marines Corps and partner-nation participants from Belize, Canada, and Colombia.

One goal of the exercise, dubbed Task Force Bon Voizen or “Good Neighbor” is to construct a three-room school in the impoverished region of Upper Poteau, located in Artibonite Department, roughly 75 miles north of the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince. A medical clinic and a latrine are also being built at the site.

TF Bon Voizen is a Commander, U.S. Southern Command sponsored, U.S. Army South conducted, joint foreign military interaction/humanitarian exercise under the command of the Louisiana National Guard.

The engineers employ a construction technique developed in the 1990s known as Royal Building System, which is rated to withstand the force of a category-three hurricane, and is known to be resistant to earthquakes. RBS buildings can also be built quickly, making them ideally suited to the mission timeline.

“It’s basically a solid, reinforced concrete building” explained Sgt. 1st Class Roland Sweetland, of Bossier City, La., the quality control inspector at the site. “First we drop steel rebar vertically into the foundation, then we set up the vinyl molds and fill them with concrete. It goes pretty quick, and once it’s finished, we’ll have a very strong structure.”

“I am happy to be able work on something that will help educate kids here,” said Spc. Lauren Lachney, a native of Opelousas, La. and member of the 1020th Engineer Company. The 1020th is a Louisiana National Guard element out of Marksville, La. currently spearheading the various construction projects of Bon Voizen. “Education is the way to improve a country,” Lachney added.

Many of the Louisiana National Guard Soldiers currently serving in Haiti are here for the second time, having taken part in last year’s Task Force Kout Men, or “Helping Hands,” an exercise which also constructed a school. One such Soldier is Pfc. Jason Carroll, of Colombia, La.

“I wanted to come to Haiti last year because I had just finished basic training where I met a guy from here. We became friends, and I can remember how upset he was the day that the earthquake hit. So when I got the opportunity to come down and help out, I volunteered,” said Carroll.

Task Force Bon Voizen is deploying U.S. military engineers and medical professionals to Haiti for training and to provide humanitarian services. Task Force Bon Voizen will build a school, two medical clinics and one water well/latrine facility, as well as staff three medical clinics and one dental clinic between April 28 and June 25 in the Artibonite Department.

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Haitian children in Gonaives wait for medical clinic. U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Jessica M. Lopez

Task Force Kout Men moved into northern Haiti in mid June. Over 500 members of the United States military, the National Guard, Reserves and the regulars, will be working in and around the city of Gonaives. The base camp is in the village of Mandrin.

The task force is headed by the Louisiana National Guard who chose the Creole name, which means “Helping Hands”. The exercise is titled “New Horizons – Haiti 2010″ and the men and women rotating through during the June through September time frame will be working on four schools and providing a number of medical outreach services.

At any one time 500-550 Americans will be on the ground but units will be rotating in and out during the mission. It is headed by the Louisiana National Guard and many participants are from Guard and Reserve units in other states, such as Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New York, North and South Dakota, Texas and U.S. Virgin Islands. Troops from the Central American nation of Belize are also attached to the mission.

In a Bloggers’ Roundtable, we had the opportunity to speak with Army Col. Michael Borrel, the task force commander of the New Horizons-Haiti 2010 exercise, a member of the task force’s engineering team, Maj. Charles “Chuck” Hudson, Louisiana National Guard, as well as a member of the medical staff, U.S. Air Force Col. Thomas Steinbrunner.

Work on local schools is progressing. In addition to structural work, the American engineers are adding wells for drinking water and improved latrines. The SeaBees, Navy Construction Batt. 25, are doing much of this work, assisted by other units and the troops from Belize.

Asked about the earthquake and hurricane resistance of the new construction, Col. Borrel had this to say:

Yes, the system that was selected through the Army South engineers that we’re utilizing is the Royal Building Systems that’s — that has since been renamed the NuForm System. And it’s essentially a concrete-reinforced slab that’s 3,500-PSI concrete with reinforced rebar that is very — with a six-inch slope that’s very strong concrete slab. The walls use a smaller aggregate but at the same 3,500 PSI and the same six-inch slump (sic; slope). So it’s a reinforced concrete building.

And the roof structure facilitates a steel frame J-bolt system that’s bolted steel with the corrugated metal roof. You know, it’s much more better — much better technology, a much stronger system than any of the systems in — being utilized in Haiti. When we came on the ground, essentially, in Mandrin they were using United Nations tents, and they had a pole barn that they were using as a classroom.

So this will be a significant improvement and will enhance the learning capabilities of the children and the instructors as well.

At the facilities at the K. Georges and at the Diaquoi (sp), they were existing structures that were projects from the past that were constructed under the guise of USAID, and they are a similar concrete reinforced structure that have withstood the hurricanes and winds of the past. The grade at which we are placing these buildings is consistent with where the grade is of the existing structures and is intended to be above any type of flood area.

Staff Sgt Rebekah Chiarini, a medical provider with the 399th Combat Support Hospital, plays with children from the Vision For A Better Haiti Orphanage at the at the U.S. Army South New Horizons- Haiti 2010 Gonaives medical assistance site July 7. New Horizons, in partnership with the government of Haiti, is conducting various medical, dental engineering missions for the locals in Gonaives. New Horizons also provides valuable experience to learn in a real-world environment for our U.S. Forces. U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Jessica M. Lopez

This region of Haiti escaped the direct effects of the January 12, 2010, earthquake. Gonaives was partially destroyed by Hurricane Hannah in 2008 and suffers from regular flooding. I asked Co. Borrel about the choice of location for the exercise. He told us that up to 100,000 Haitians from the quake zone were believed, by the Haitian government, to have moved to the Gonaives area. The work on the schools provides for more capacity, to allow some of those refugee children to attend school.

Ten medical exercises are part of the overall mission plan. To date, the officers report that well over 20,000 Haitians have been seen at a variety of locations. Col. Steinbrunner described this outreach as primary care only. Serious problems would be referred to the local Haitian hospitals.

Along with medical exams, Haitians are being seen by dentists and other medical professionals. At the request of the Haitian government, there are no immunizations being provided. Steinbrunner described the conditions seen to date as a mix of many things, skin conditions, parasitic illnesses and sexually transmitted diseases being predominant.

The large numbers of American troops that surged into Haiti after the earthquake are gone. Yet, a small, hardworking group of Americans troops continue to make a difference as a part of Task Force Helping Hands.

You can follow these Americans through social media:

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As members of the services flight for the Connecticut Air National Guard's 103rd Airlift Wing, Tech. Sgt. Chris Jones (left) and Tech. Sgt. Bambi Putinas volunteered to do search and recovery at the destroyed Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The four-star hotel collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake trapping many of its guests in the rubble. The two worked with search and recovery teams from France, Mexico, Canada and other branches of the U.S. military. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

The earthquake that rocked this city left many of its structures damaged or destroyed, including one landmark that many say represented a sense of stability within the city.

The Hotel Montana, a four-star hotel where diplomats, dignitaries and other world leaders often stayed, collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake trapping many of its guests in the rubble.

A few made it out alive, and the task of finding and identifying those who didn’t fell to a variety of organizations, including search and recovery teams from France, Mexico, Canada and members of the U.S. military.

As a member of the services flight for the Connecticut Air National Guard’s 103rd Airlift Wing, Tech Sgt. Bambi Putinas said her job encompasses not only personnel issues, food services and lodging, but also mortuary affairs.

“We all volunteered to come here, but we had no idea what we would be doing,” she said. “In the back of our minds, we all thought possibly mortuary affairs.”

When a call for volunteers to assist at the Hotel Montana site was put out, Putinas was one of many from her unit to volunteer for the mission.

“We would help with the preliminary identification of remains and make sure they got back home safely and also any articles, luggage, personal effects,” she said. “We helped to document what we found, and those also would be shipped home.”

Putinas said it was an important job to do, but also a difficult one.

“It was hard,” she said. “Sometimes you could actually put a face with a name or an article or something that was inscribed.”

For many who worked at the site, it was an opportunity to provide a sense of closure to the grieving family members of those who died in the hotel.

“…we were recovering those that had fallen at the (Hotel) Montana, so that they could be returned to their loved ones and bring closure,” said Tech Sgt. Chris Jones, also with the 103rd AW. “We were sending them home.”

That was part of what made many who worked at the site go back day after day.

“Some people wanted to go out every day, no matter what,” said Putinas. “You think that you’re going to find somebody one day and you just keep on searching hoping to find someone.”

Though it is part of the services mission set, mortuary affairs is not a skill that unit members use on a regular basis.

“It was a lot of nerves the first time we went out there,” said Jones. “We do a lot of training, but this was our first real-world experience handling this aspect of our career field. It was a lot of nerves, a lot of anxiety, but everyone got out there and did their job and handled it very well.”

Unit members also relied on each other for support during the recovery operations.

“We kept an open door policy and set rank aside if anybody needed to talk or had any questions,” said Jones, who added that there were briefings and other opportunities for those at the site to discuss or work through any issues.

“We’re a pretty strong group to begin with,” said Putinas. “I think it was a great team that we put together, and we were there for each other.”

Jones recalled the day the remains of an Air Force officer were recovered.

“They said he was still in his uniform,” said Jones. “His body was covered, and he was moved out of the rubble and all of us stopped working and we went to attention and saluted as he was moved past us. It was our way of paying final respects to him.”

For those at the site, doing the job was something they took great pride in.

“We received a great sense of fulfillment in the job we were doing,” said Jones. “We had an extreme amount of pride in the job that we had done.”

And that is something that will stay with them long after they return home.

“I think I’ll be telling my family members about the team I worked with,” said Putinas. “And how great it was to work with the Army, the Navy, the French, the Canadians, and how people from all aspects of life could come together for one mission, in a country that none of us ever thought we would come to, and pull together and do a mission that needed to be done.”

DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

Over 60 articles about the Haitian earthquake, U.S. military assistance to Haiti after the quake, American giving to earthquake relief and other related topics can be found at the link Haiti Quake 2010.

An Airman with the 118th Civil Engineering Squadron, gives candy to a child at the New Life Children's Home in Port au Prince, Haiti, March 12, 2010. Members of the squadron have been working at the home, a local orphanage that has also taken in many children injured by the January earthquake, building cabinets, storage areas and a medical clinic. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

The U.S. military response to the January earthquake in Haiti was almost immediate.

Within hours, equipment, supplies and personnel began to arrive in Haiti to assist those affected by the earthquake and its aftershocks.

Many Air National Guard units and personnel were among the first to respond to the disaster.

For some, it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Air Force Staff Sgt. Oscar Trevino of the 190th Civil Engineering Squadron of the Kansas Air National Guard was with his unit in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of its two weeks of annual training.

“People said they felt the earthquake,” said Trevino. “I grew up in Southern California, and I didn’t feel anything. I just rolled over and went to bed. Sure enough, we found out the next day they had a massive earthquake over here.”

Trevino’s unit arrived here a week later.

“We waited for a week to get transportation,” he said. “Really, they needed us as soon as they could so we could get the camp going and get the other people housed.”

When Trevino first arrived in Haiti, service members were sleeping wherever space was available.

“The first week I slept on some lumber, because I didn’t want to sleep on the ground,” he said.

Building a tent city is a bit more involved than simply erecting a few tents. It means leveling ground and setting up living, shower and laundry areas.

“We initially brought in what is called a ’550 kit,’ which consists of tents and will house roughly 550 personnel,” said Trevino. “We were at the north end of the airport, and it was nothing but tall grass. And we came in with our heavy equipment and leveled the place. We put up tents and then our shower and laundry and built it up to as you see it today.”

These operations are all part of what a civil engineering squadron does.

“When we hit the ground in an expeditionary or contingency environment, our job is to set up a bare base,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Craig Bradford, commander of the 118th CES in Nashville, Tenn., and commander of the 24th Expeditionary CES in Port au Prince, Haiti. “So, if we have a water source and an airfield, we’ll come in and bring in all the material to build a tent city.”

But that still means hitting the ground running.

“We got here Jan. 29, and I haven’t had a day off since then,” said Bradford. “But we’ve been working hard to build a tent city for all the joint members in the task force.”

Members of Bradford’s squadron have been responsible for building more than a tent city. They worked on other projects around the airport and were directly involved with getting it re-opened to commercial traffic on Feb. 19.

“We built a diversionary road around the airport, otherwise traffic would be worse than what it already is,” said Bradford. “We also fixed a water leak that was just outside the major terminal that was going to be used for the commercial re-opening. Without our work, that terminal would not have opened at all.”

They also fixed the landing lights on the runway.

“The airfield lighting has gone down multiple times while we’ve been here,” said Bradford. “The first night it happened, the president of Haiti couldn’t even make it in. They had to divert his flight to another Caribbean island and our folks stayed up until that system was working and ready to go and he landed in the morning.”

The squadron’s ability to get the airfield lights back up and operational came about, in part, because of the civilian backgrounds of many of the squadron members.

“From the civil engineering standpoint, most of our folks are craftsmen on the outside,” said Bradford. “They have the abilities and they are working in the crafts. They’re carpenters, they’re electricians. Those are some of the unique qualities that the active duty force doesn’t have that we bring in our squadron.”

Because many buildings within the city have been destroyed or damaged by the earthquake, local residents have been wary of returning to their homes or entering various structures, said Bradford.

So, the squadron provided structural assessments of those properties “to give people the warm and fuzzy that they can go back and live where they lived before and that’s just as important as providing food and water,” said Bradford.

Providing these services is what makes the mission worthwhile. “Morale has been fantastic,” said Bradford. “This is a different sort of mission than going to Iraq or Afghanistan. If the shops can afford to lose a few folks during the week, then we go ahead and send them out on a mission to help an orphanage or work in the clinic or wherever we can.”

And that’s all part of the squadron’s mission.

“There was a humanitarian mission before the earthquake and there will be one long after,” said Bradford. “At most, we can put a dent in it. We’re here to help as much as we can.”

DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy