Posted on 01/10/2005 10:02:18 AM PST by xzins
U.S. military now has 16,500 working in South Asia on tsunami relief effort
By Fred Zimmerman, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Monday, January 10, 2005
(Click here for a map with details of the U.S. military's relief effort in Asia.) http://www.stripes.com/05/jan05/milrelief.html
UTAPAO, Thailand — The U.S. military’s support of humanitarian relief efforts in South Asia continues to grow, with more than 16,500 troops converging on the region to lend a hand.
More than 10,800 are on the ships of the Navy’s Expeditionary Strike Group 5 and Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, which is carrying the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The remainder of U.S. forces are spread throughout Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, according to Lt. Col. Robert Krieg, Combined Support Force 536 operations planning team member.
With relief missions just beginning in Sri Lanka, Krieg said the United States is moving equipment into Galle and has delivered water cans, hygiene items and plastic sheeting to Ampara. Beach and hydrographic studies also are under way to determine whether amphibious landings will be possible to deliver supplies to shore. Sri Lanka had received nine tons of relief supplies as of Friday.
Krieg said the U.S. military’s Disaster Relief Assessment Team traveled from Sri Lanka to the Maldives, along with assessment personnel from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
While efforts are just under way in Sri Lanka, efforts elsewhere are in full swing. Indonesia has received 14,000 gallons of water, 94 tons of food and 24 tons of supplies, and the United States has treated 46 patients since relief operations began there. Thailand has received 2,400 gallons of water, five tons of food and 297 tons of supplies, and 61 patients have received care.
Delivering supplies isn’t the only task being performed by the U.S. military. A civil affairs team in Thailand found three isolated camps where tsunami victims were living in unsanitary conditions. Krieg said the information was turned over to the World Food Program, which worked to assist those living in the camps.
A forensics team made up of both servicemembers and civilians is helping with the deceased in Phuket, Krieg said. They are collecting DNA samples from thousands of bodies at the Disaster Victims Identification Operations Center.
The Navy is helping to recover bodies. Several riverine special warfare boats are being used to search for and retrieve the dead from rivers and coastal waters, Krieg said.
The military continues to provide support throughout the affected region — as of Friday there had been 219 helicopter sorties, 197 C-130 flights, 112 strategic airlifts and 33 reconnaissance flights, Krieg said.
Though many things can go wrong with such a large operation, Krieg said, things so far have gone as planned.
“I think we went into this problem with very little information and we made some assumptions, which we were wrong on some,” he said. “But had we waited until we got all the information in, we wouldn’t be providing aid now. It’s very gratifying … especially knowing that we are really making a difference in people’s lives.”
Salary cost alone is in the neighborhood of 2.5 mil per day. That's before we add up all the operational costs to the military of being there.
I suspect when the US says 350 million donation that it's talking about a different pot of money than that from which pay and costs come from.
How much does it cost to steam an aircraft carrier across the ocean? Fly a cargo plane? Set up a military hospital?
but Americans are stingy...
yea right...
They were over there anyway so these costs would have been incurred by the Pentagon regardless.
France is sending croissants!
They are not over there anyway.....that's why they had to fly, travel, etc. to get there.
And anyplace they go other than in their military role is diverting them from their defense role of watchful eyes and ears.
In other words, we are contributing their salaries to the the tsunami relief effort.
I heard they were stale croissants and moldy cheese.
I heard the French were delighted to hear
No, they were there. Both the Lincoln battle group and the Bonhomme Richard battle group were deployed to the western Pacific/Indian Ocean area.
In other words, we are contributing their salaries to the the tsunami relief effort.
True, but those costs were not unplanned. Not like the other aid we're giving.
Let me repeat, being in the Indian Ocean is not being in Sri Landa or in Sumatra.
That's a bit like saying that being in the Atlantic is being in Florida.
Those are diverted costs. If I pay you to roof my building, but then decide to help my neighbor after a fire burns his garage, by sending my builders at my expense to work on his garage, then I am not getting my paid job done, am I?
I just sent the link to Rush.
Thanks.
I know that flight hours are precious, fuel is expensive, and that we crashed a blackhawk someplace today....Sri Lanka??... Everyone aboard was injured -- fortunately no deaths. Cargo lost.
What did that cost?
As a professional "bean counter", I can tell you the "salary" expenditure is moot. These people were on duty anyway, gonna get paid the same whether or not they sailed around in the ocean or actually went somewhere and did something else.
Now fuel costs to, from and while on station, wear and tear/damage on equipment that wouldn't have been otherwise used... those are legitimate "costs".
The story does not mention salaries, so I'm assuming your salary value was self-invented. Your estimate of total salary, based on the number of military in area, would give them an average of $4545 per month. This is a grossly high average, unless one accepts that the preponderance of personnel are of Commissioned Officer level. The vast majority of all military in the area are mid to low enlisted, who earn less than $1800 per month.
In any case, a militry person's salary is owed, and paid, regardless of his assignment, and their assignments are, for the most part, for the good of the Service and defense of our Nation. Been retired for many years, but when active, I never charged nor received extra pay for performing missions and assignments outside my primary job code. And I'm comfortable thinking that the Pentagon did not submit to Congress for added salaries for Officers and Enlisted personnel performing more than one assigned task.
So, if I divert 5,000 of my resources to some charity and not use it for the landscaping job I had planned, then it isn't really a gift because I was gonna spend the money anyway?
It's obvious that too many folks think the American military just sits around in the barracks with nothing to do until some world event hits. That our ships are out on some pleasure cruise takin' in the babes at each port unless there's an earthquake or war somewhere.
Sheesh...
This is an average of 50,000 a year.
It is just about exactly correct and it is on the low side as an estimate in my opinion.
If you take the average enlisted troop as a specialist+, and the average commissioned as a Captain+ (03) and the average warrant as a W3, then you'll see that I'm correct.
The E4 with 6 years is just about 2000 a month. The captain with 8 is 4600 and the W3 is 3500. You need to add a number of things to every one of them and that's a GI bill that now totals 70,000. Then you've got to add the BAH (Housing) which averages at about 750 a month. Then there's Subsistence Allowance that we'll average at 200 a month (actually about 265 for all enlisted and 175 for all commissioned. Then there's cost of living adjustment, and it's based on the soldier's HOME duty station and not his deployment location. Just for fun let's call it 200 a month. Free health goes in there someplace. A health policy for a family these days STARTS at about $13,000 a year. And we haven't discussed his guarateed $100,000 or so of life insurance that he can buy up to $250,000 of.
For the specialist we have 2000 (pay) + 750 (bah) + 200 (sub) + 200 (cola) + 1100 (health) + 2000 (GI Bill) = $6250 per month.
It's a great career. Anyone who steers their child to the military is doing them a great favor. We haven't even mentioned that the military will also train them in a life trade at government expense.
Right now I am collecting a whole lot of money from my military retirement. If it had been an annuity over 20 years, it would have had to total about 1.5 to 2 million to account for the monthly check that that annuity pays me.
What size investment would that take over 20 years at 8% interest average? My guess is a couple to three thousand a month.
I haven't even added that in up above.
Does anyone know how much the Germans, French, Russians and Chinese (etc.) are contributing toward the tsunami recovery?
Your Statement: " They were over there anyway so these costs would have been incurred by the Pentagon regardless."
That's true & not true...Yes they were moving there but from a different pot of money. Now their there it's from another pot of money.
The real issue to me is whether the expenses associated with the U.S. assistance will count toward our U.N. "Bill" we pay. Once we said we were forming a coalition of the "giving", it may not have. Once the U.N. comes in and supposedly takes charge, than it should count against our U.N. Bill (sic).
This has been a sticker in my side for a long time!
Bottom line is that without the U.S. asstance; logistics, communications, organizational skills, etc., more people would probably have died.
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