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I'd rather be on my boat.
Industry Role:
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 9,750
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Check THIS out.....
/*Subject:*/ Tsunami Relief from the USS Lincoln
>>Subject: The USS Lincoln and Tsunami Relief
>>I can imagine that it truly has been a zoo out there. khl
>>01-20-2005 Guest Column: No Relief in Sight for the Lincoln By Ed Stanton
>>It has been three weeks since my ship, the USS Abraham Lincoln, arrived
>>off the Sumatran coast to aid the hundreds of thousands of victims of the
>>Dec. 26 tsunami that ravaged their coastline. I'd like to say that this
>>has been a rewarding experience for us, but it has not: Instead, it has
>>been a frustrating and needlessly dangerous exercise made even more
>>difficult by the Indonesian government and a traveling circus of
>>so-called aid workers who have invaded our spaces.
>>What really irritated me was a scene I witnessed in the Lincoln's
>>wardroom a few days ago. I went in for breakfast as I usually do,
>>expecting to see the usual crowd of ship's company officers in khakis and
>>air wing aviators in flight suits, drinking coffee and exchanging rumors
>>about when our ongoing humanitarian mission in Sumatra is going to end.
>>What I saw instead was a mob of civilians sitting around like they owned
>>the place. They wore various colored vests with logos on the back
>>including Save The Children, World Health Organization and the dreaded
>>baby blue vest of the United Nations. Mixed in with this crowd were a
>>bunch of reporters, cameramen and Indonesian military officers in
>>uniform. They all carried cameras, sunglasses and fanny packs like
>>tourists on their way to Disneyland.
>>My warship had been transformed into a floating hotel for a bunch of
>>trifling do-gooders overnight.
>>As I went through the breakfast line, I overheard one of the U.N
>>strap-hangers, a longhaired guy with a beard, make a sarcastic comment to
>>one of our food servers. He said something along the lines of "Nice
>>china, really makes me feel special," in reference to the fact that we
>>were eating off of paper plates that day. It was all I could do to keep
>>from jerking him off his feet and choking him, because I knew that the
>>reason we were eating off paper plates was to save dishwashing water so
>>that we would have more water to send ashore and save lives. That plus
>>the fact that he had no business being there in the first place.
>>My attitude towards these unwanted no-loads grew steadily worse that day
>>as I learned more from one of our junior officers who was assigned to
>>escort a group of them. It turns out that they had come to Indonesia to
>>"assess the damage" from the Dec. 26 tsunami.
>>Well, they could have turned on any TV in the world and seen that the
>>damage was total devastation. When they got to Sumatra with no plan, no
>>logistics support and no five-star hotels to stay in, they threw
>>themselves on the mercy of the U.S. Navy, which, unfortunately, took them
>>in. I guess our senior brass was hoping for some good PR since this was
>>about the time that the U.N. was calling the United States "stingy" with
>>our relief donations.
>>As a result of having to host these people, our severely over-tasked
>>SH-60 Seahawk helos, which were carrying tons of food and water every day
>>to the most inaccessible places in and around Banda Aceh, are now used in
>>great part to ferry these "relief workers" from place to place every day
>>and bring them back to their guest bedrooms on the Lincoln at night.
>>Despite their avowed dedication to helping the victims, these relief
>>workers will not spend the night in-country, and have made us their
>>guardians by default.
>>When our wardroom treasurer approached the leader of the relief group and
>>asked him who was paying the mess bill for all the meals they ate, the
>>fellow replied, "We aren't paying, you can try to bill the U.N. if you
>>want to."
>>In addition to the relief workers, we routinely get tasked with hauling
>>around reporters and various low-level "VIPs," which further wastes
>>valuable helo lift that could be used to carry supplies. We had to
>>dedicate two helos and a C-2 cargo plane for America-hater Dan Rather and
>>his entourage of door holders and briefcase carriers from CBS News.
>>Another camera crew was from MTV. I doubt if we'll get any good PR from
>>them, since the cable channel is banned in Muslim countries. We also had
>>to dedicate a helo and crew to fly around the vice mayor of Phoenix,
>>Ariz., one day. Everyone wants in on the action.
>>As for the Indonesian officers, while their job is apparently to
>>encourage our leaving as soon as possible, all they seem to do in the
>>meantime is smoke cigarettes. They want our money and our help but they
>>don't want their population to see that Americans are doing far more for
>>them in two weeks than their own government has ever done or will ever do
>>for them.
>>To add a kick in the face to the USA and the Lincoln, the Indonesian
>>government announced it would not allow us to use their airspace for
>>routine training and flight proficiency operations while we are saving
>>the lives of their people, some of whom are wearing Osama bin Ladin
>>T-shirts as they grab at our food and water. The ship has to steam out
>>into international waters to launch and recover jets, which makes our
>>helos have to fly longer distances and burn more fuel.
>>What is even worse than trying to help people who totally reject
>>everything we stand for is that our combat readiness has suffered for it.
>>An aircraft carrier is an instrument of national policy and the big stick
>>she carries is her air wing. An air wing has a set of very demanding
>>skills and they are highly perishable. We train hard every day at sea to
>>conduct actual air strikes, air defense, maritime surveillance, close air
>>support and many other missions - not to mention taking off and landing
>>on a ship at sea.
>>Our safety regulations state that if a pilot does not get a night carrier
>>landing every seven days, he has to be re-qualified to land on the ship.
>>Today we have pilots who have now been over 25 days without a trap due to
>>being unable to use Indonesian airspace to train. Normally it is when we
>>are at sea that our readiness is at its very peak. Thanks to the
>>Indonesian government, we have to waive our own safety rules just to get
>>our pilots off the deck.
>>In other words, the longer we stay here helping these people, the more
>>dangerous it gets for us to operate. We have already lost one helicopter,
>>which crashed in Banda Aceh while taking sailors ashore to unload
>>supplies from the C-130s. There were no relief workers on that one.
>>I'm all for helping the less fortunate, but it is time to give this
>>mission to somebody other than the U.S. Navy. Our ship was supposed to be
>>home on Feb. 3 and now we have no idea how long we will be here. American
>>taxpayers are spending millions per day to keep this ship at sea and
>>getting no training value out of it. As a result, we will come home in a
>>lower state of readiness than when we left due to the lack of flying
>>while supporting the tsunami relief effort.
>>I hope we get some good PR in the Muslim world out of it. After all, this
>>is Americans saving the lives of Muslims. I have my doubts.
>>Ed Stanton is the pen name of a career U.S. Navy officer currently
>>serving with the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group.
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