Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
As the earthquake and tsunami disaster in American Samoa transitions into recovery,the
Department of Defense (DOD) assets used
during the response are being demobilized.
Col. Jay George, Defense Coordinating
Officer, and Kenneth Tingman, Federal
Coordinating Officer for FEMA, summarize the
DOD support to FEMA during the earthquake and tsunami operation.
Colonel Jay George: Hi, my name is Colonel Jay George, I am the
Defense Coordinating Officer and I work with
FEMA here on the ground as well as back in Hawaii.
We started off on 29 September and I was
back in Hawaii with the FEMA Pacific Area Office in Fort Shafter.
We found out about the tsunami and we were called up into action.
We deployed with the initial team with FEMA on a Coast Guard C-130
on that first night with the governor.
We arrived here the next morning and got an initial assessment.
Some of the things we brought to the
emergency to support civil authorities: We
brought a U.S.S. frigate ship, which included
two helicopters for aerial search and recovery
as well as to provide over flights for the leadership for the (American Samoan)
government as well as the federal government.
We brought in a civil support team as well as
a CBRNE team, which is a chemical,
biological, radiological, nuclear high yield
enforced package from the Hawaii National Guard.
They provided the ability to do urban search
and rescue as well as the ability to identify,
categorize and separate some of the
hazardous material that was left behind from the tsunami.
What you see behind you is a number of
soldiers from the United States Army Reserve.
Some of them recently re-deployed with the
100th Battalion from Iraq and Kuwait.
These soldiers are helping to distribute much needed critical supplies.
The supplies include tent kits which include
shelters as well as stoves and other much needed commodities.
Kenneth Tingman: I would like to thank Colonel George, our
Defense Coordinating Officer, for all the great
support he has given, not only to the people of American Samoa, but to also to FEMA.
He was on the ground with me in Hawaii when
we started this on the 29th of September.
He came on the flight with me and joined the governor as well.
We had boots on the ground.
We had strategic airlift immediately.
We had teams that were out in the communities doing hazardous waste removal.
We had teams that were looking at homes
searching for bodies, they were searching for
survivors, all the way down to the tactical
missions as you can see behind us now
where people are distributing goods to the people who have lost their homes.
The DOD has been an integral partner in
everything we have done and we absolutely
could not have done the great job we have done without our DOD partners.
I just want to thank the DOD for giving us great support.