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USS Essex
Off the coast of Sumatra, the USS Essex (LHD 2) delivered humanitarian aid to tsunami survivors in the northern areas of the island using helicopters and LCACs. According to the USS Essex’s Commanding Officer, U.S. Navy Capt. J. M. van Tol, the U.S. helicopters came from numerous locations. “We embarked four Bahrain-based MH-53Es [Sea Dragons], six CH-46s [Sea Knights] from Okinawa [Japan], and two more MH-60Ss [Knighthawks] from the [USNS] Niagara Falls [T-AFS 3], in addition to our own helicopter combat squadron. These [helicopters] gave us a very substantial and versatile lift capacity, allowing us to pick up large quantities of supplies from Sabang Island and Banda Aceh, and deliver them to various locations where they were needed,” said Capt. van Tol. LCACs operating from the USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) also carried supplies to shore.

Once ashore, the Essex crew worked side by side with military personnel from other countries. “I believe that everyone involved was very pleased to have a chance to do something up close and personal to help the many victims of the tsunami catastrophe,” said Capt. van Tol.

USNS Mercy
Arriving off the coast of Banda Aceh in early February 2005, the U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) replaced the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group to provide humanitarian assistance for the people of Indonesia. USNS Mercy volunteers from Project Hope – a non-government organization – and the uniformed U.S. Public Health Service immediately began work with the Indonesian government to assist international relief organizations and host-nation medical teams in tsunami-affected areas.

Medical personnel aboard the USNS Mercy conducted a wide range of medical and dental assistance programs ashore and afloat, performing 19,512 medical procedures, including 285 surgical and operating room cases. These medical and dental services included neurology, optometry, otolaryngology, obstetrics and gynecology, urology, pediatrics, primary and acute care, mental health, orthopedics, ophthalmology, immunizations, radiology, laboratory, prescriptions, dental extractions, pediatric surgery, general surgery and plastic surgery. Project Hope personnel also provided public health training both ashore and afloat that will continue to benefit the people of Indonesia long after the ship departs. 

After treating nearly 10,000 patients in 40 days in Banda Aceh, the USNS Mercy went on to conduct medical and dental aid missions in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. While en route home to the U.S., the ship was again called to aid Indonesia, when a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Nias off Sumatra on 28 March 2005.

Members of Project Hope met the Mercy in Nias. Additional U.S. military medical personnel met the ship, bringing the staff close to the 600 people aboard while the Mercy was off the coast of Banda Aceh.

“We’ve done 48 major surgeries aboard the ship,” noted U.S. Navy Capt. (Dr.) Mark Llewellyn, Commanding Officer, USNS Mercy Medical Treatment Facility. “These are really significant surgical procedures. A lot of them are orthopedic in nature from injuries . . . received from the earthquake.” As of mid-April, the medical team had treated 700 patients ashore and 45 patients onboard. The team also did dental work and passed out a significant number of eyeglasses.

When the Mercy set out for Indonesia after the tsunami struck, it carried a number of non-governmental organization representatives, a first for the ship. It worked well, “because we went in representing the spirit and heart of America,” said Capt. Llewellyn. “Medical professionals working together – Navy medicine alongside top-notch civilian medicine – it was just a tremendous partnership.”

Conclusion
“The U.S. Military . . . has been the backbone of the logistical operations, providing assistance to all afflicted after the [tsunami] disaster,” said Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono in a joint news conference with then U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. “We’d like to pay tribute to the soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen of the U.S. forces deployed in Aceh throughout the relief effort.”

Noting that the USS Abraham Lincoln was en route to the United States when the tsunami struck, Secretary Wolfowitz said no sailors complained. “They really believe in the importance of what they’re doing,” he said. Secretary Wolfowitz credited then Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, Adm. Thomas B. Fargo with realizing “the minute that the word came about the tsunami that we needed to start moving the ships into place, even before we had any idea of the magnitude of the disaster.”

Despite the withdrawal of the Combined Support Group forces, the U.S. military is on standby for reconstruction efforts that could be challenging, noted Secretary Wolfowitz. Those challenges include decisions about whether to replace roads or move them. For example, in some places, the earth has subsided two to three feet (about one meter), and there’s concern that acts of nature could again destroy replaced roads.

“We stand ready to assist as appropriate, including possibly in the provision of the kind of planning resources that our military is very good at,” commented Secretary Wolfowitz. “One of the things we have offered assistance on is to provide both civilian and military planners … to assist the Indonesian Planning Ministry in working out some of these problems.”

Great achievements are possible when militaries and governments unite to help those in need. Cooperation and interoperability among the militaries of the Asia-Pacific region and allies outside the region were critical to the successes in the tsunami-relief efforts. Building on this interoperability and cooperation will allow the countries of the Asia-Pacific region to continue to respond quickly and confidently to such real-world situations.

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