Thai Military Base Used by B52 Bombers...Turns Into Hub for American Military Relief for Victims

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A Thai air base that accommodated U.S. bomber planes during the Vietnam War is being used by the American military again as the hub of its tsunami relief effort in the Indian Ocean.

U.S. officials said Thursday that transport planes and personnel already are flying into and out of Utapao, about 90 miles south of Bangkok.

A U.S. embassy spokesman said P-3 Orion surveillance planes were already flying search and rescue missions over Thailand and the first supply planes arrived in Thailand overnight.

The Pentagon has said C-130 cargo planes would haul relief supplies to Thailand from Yokota air base in Japan. They will also be used to ferry supplies, people - "whatever's needed" - from Utapao to affected areas, the embassy spokesman said in a telephone interview.

In coming days the crews could begin making airdrops of emergency water supplies.

"There's going to be planes and people zipping off all over the place," he said.

Utapao is well known to pilots of the Vietnam War, when it served as a base for U.S. B52 bombers.

A military forensic team also was due to arrive to help in the huge task of identifying the dead. Some 80,000 people are feared dead and millions are homeless in nearly a dozen countries after last weekend's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The military also dispatched ships from an aircraft battle group to help with the relief effort. The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier strike group, which was in Hong Kong, was diverted to the Gulf of Thailand.

This is welcome news--and the US will provide substantial relief via airlift. We have the largest airlift fleet in the world, and the only one that can haul certain oversize equipment. Also, this airport has the capability to receive the C-5, C-17, and commercial cargo aircraft such as the 747.

I was disgusted listening to NPR yesterday. NPR gleefully reported that a UN spokesman has said they were sending in "hundreds of aircraft laden with relief supplies."

The UN does not have hundreds of aircraft. In fact, the only aircraft it does really own are executive transports to ferry the UN high rollers around.

Later on ABC Radio, an Irish relief worker lamented the fact that the UN has no real logistical capability, and called it a "tragic failure of the United Nations, it is almost criminal they do not have one."

So, the US will provide the relief, and the UN will mug for the cameras and blame the US.

Update

U.S.-Led Military Effort Begins Delivering Aid to Devastated Areas of Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A Thai navy air base used by American B52 bombers during the Vietnam War is turning into the hub for a U.S. military-led relief effort that is stretching around the devastated shores of the Indian Ocean.

The Americans are part of a giant overseas military force pouring into the region to beef up the relief effort as local authorities struggle to dispose of tens of thousands of bodies and provide relief to more than a million people made homeless by Sunday's huge earthquake and the tsunami waves it unleashed.

Already this week, American planes have delivered 1,400 body bags to southern Thai islands while Australians and New Zealand military cargo planes have flown supplies and water purification plants into Indonesia.

Pakistani naval sailors diverted their ship to rescue survivors on outlying islands in the Maldives and only poor weather on Wednesday thwarted them from sending a helicopter to hunt for more survivors and deliver aid.

Singapore is sending eight helicopters, a Navy ship and more than 500 military personnel.

"This is a very sad story that will unfold in over the coming days," said the city state's Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean. "We will do what we can."

The United States, which has been criticized in recent days for not committing enough aid to the relief operation is pouring forces into the region.

The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier strike group, which was in Hong Kong, has been diverted to the Gulf of Thailand for the humanitarian relief operations.

Five ships from the group may be deployed off Sumatra, the worst hit area, joint chiefs of staff Lt. Gen. James T. Conway told a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.

Nine P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft, including some based at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japan, have also been deployed in support of search and rescue operations in the area, he said.

Six C-130 Cargo planes based out of Japan will also be diverted to Thailand to join in the operation, according to an Air Force statement.

"As soon as we received word that the earthquake victims needed our help, we immediately activated forces to provide assistance," said Col. Mark Schissler, commander of the 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota Air Base, just outside Tokyo.

Lt. Col. Scott Elder in Thailand said there would likely be up to 1,000 U.S. military personnel arriving in the next week.

Australia, often criticized in Southeast Asia for its close military links with Washington, said Thursday it would send the naval transport ship HMAS Kanimbla and a team of army engineers to Indonesia.

The ship, carrying two powerful Sea King helicopters, was scheduled to leave Sydney on Friday and pick up the 100-strong team of engineers and construction equipment in the northern port of Darwin before steaming on to Sumatra.

"Once on station, Kanimbla is capable of providing a range of support facilities including medical, accommodation and communications," Defense Minister Robert Hill said in a statement.

Australia already has more than 100 defense force personnel in and around the Aceh region of Sumatra.

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