Guardians,
Checking in late in the day after a very hectic 24 hours (we are all running a little low on sleep). We, like the rest of the world, have been shocked and extremely saddened by the horrific earthquake in Haiti. We have partnered with the Haitian Coast Guard for decades and we pray for them and their fellows citizens.
Shortly after the earthquake struck we were immersed in conference calls across the Department of Homeland Security and the federal government. Throughout the night I consulted with our senior leadership as we diverted cutters in the area and deployed aircraft for first light response. We were fortunate in that we have units that routinely patrol this part of the Caribbean and we have aircraft that are assigned to Operations Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT). In addition, we were able to forward deploy units at Guantanamo Bay. This collective force lay down allowed us to get in early and have an immediate impact. We can be very proud of our Guardians and their performance in these first 24 hours.
Another fortuitous situation was that we were holding a senior leadership meeting at Coast Guard Headquarters today and the Atlantic and Pacific Commanders available to participate in discussion and shorten our decision cycles. As a result we were able to discuss our response with the Secretary and our DHS partners with the Vice Commandant, Chief of Staff Deputy Commandant for Operations and our Area Commanders sitting side by side.
Moving past the first 24 hours we are integrating into the national response structure and the evolving international/coalition response. We have positioned a Coast Guard officer with USAID in the Department of State. I have talked several times with Craig Fugate, our FEMA Director. Today I discussed options and provided input for both Secretary Napolitano and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ADM Mike Mullen.
Our collective efforts are being organized under the Homeland Security Task Force - South East (HSTF-SE) which is headed by RADM Steve Branham our Seventh District Commander. Again, our previous work in organizing responses to contingencies in South Florida has helped us form up and execute on this difficult task.
I will be providing more frequent updates via this blog and twitter as we settle into a "battle rhythm." I want to extend my thanks to the thousands of Guardians who are leaning forward tonight to make sure are doing all that is possible to mitigate the impact of this terrible event. The coming days will require more from us and will be increasingly difficult but as you have shown in the last 24 hours, you are up to the challenge.
ADM A
