Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washingtonpost.com
October 23, 2007 By Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon sent troops, firefighting equipment and humanitarian supplies Tuesday to help California authorities overwhelmed by spreading wildfires and hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homes.
Defense Department officials laid out a plan early in the week for what has already been provided _ and more, but more help has not yet been requested from the state, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense Paul McHale said.
For instance, a battalion of Marines _ some 550 people _ has been alerted and is training for firefighting duties, if needed.
"Whatever it takes to deal with this fire and its aftermath, we're prepared to stand with the citizens of California and the governor to provide that," Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said at a Pentagon press conference with McHale.
Both said the idea is to be forward-leaning, particularly in light of Hurricane Katrina in 2003, when federal response was woefully slow.
"One of the lessons that we, as a nation, learned is that in a crisis, you don't wait to be asked; you lean forward, you prepare your capabilities and you ask, very pointedly, 'How can I help?'," said McHale, who noted that other agencies, not the Pentagon, were criticized for the hurricane response. "And that's a different mindset. It's a sense of urgency."
Asked if the commitment of more than 170,000 U.S. troops in Iraq will affect what the military can send to the domestic emergency, McHale said:
"I can tell you unequivocally that the ongoing war-fighting activities ... have had no negative effect at all (on) our ability to provide sufficient forces to assist civilian authorities in fighting the wildfires.... There is no manpower shortage."
McHale listed the following things the Pentagon is providing or has available, if asked:
_About 100 defense employees, including active duty military personnel and civilians, are fighting fires. That's 12 firefighting teams _ mostly civilian _ and their 12 fire engines.
_Some 1,500 Army National Guard and Air National Guardsmen are helping firefighters _ not on the fire lines, but doing other tasks to free up the firefighters.
_550 Marine Corps personnel at Camp Pendleton are preparing for possible firefighting duty.
_Another 17,301 National Guardsmen are available in California, if needed.
_Six C-130 aircraft fitted with firefighting systems are being sent to Point Mugu, two from the Air Force Reserve at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs and four from the Air National Guard in Wyoming and North Carolina. They were to arrive in California in time to begin flying missions Wednesday morning.
_11 Pentagon helicopters equipped with water buckets are available to help in fire suppression.
_Local bases, under emergency assistance authority, provided some 10,000 cots to local evacuation sites.
There are about 300,000 uniformed and civilian defense employees and dependents living in the San Diego area.
Fourteen hundred Navy personnel and family members have been evacuated to three U.S. Navy installations at Coronado, El Centro and San Diego _ something officials said would help make room at military bases for more civilian evacuees.
October 23, 2007 By Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon sent troops, firefighting equipment and humanitarian supplies Tuesday to help California authorities overwhelmed by spreading wildfires and hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homes.
Defense Department officials laid out a plan early in the week for what has already been provided _ and more, but more help has not yet been requested from the state, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense Paul McHale said.
For instance, a battalion of Marines _ some 550 people _ has been alerted and is training for firefighting duties, if needed.
"Whatever it takes to deal with this fire and its aftermath, we're prepared to stand with the citizens of California and the governor to provide that," Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said at a Pentagon press conference with McHale.
Both said the idea is to be forward-leaning, particularly in light of Hurricane Katrina in 2003, when federal response was woefully slow.
"One of the lessons that we, as a nation, learned is that in a crisis, you don't wait to be asked; you lean forward, you prepare your capabilities and you ask, very pointedly, 'How can I help?'," said McHale, who noted that other agencies, not the Pentagon, were criticized for the hurricane response. "And that's a different mindset. It's a sense of urgency."
Asked if the commitment of more than 170,000 U.S. troops in Iraq will affect what the military can send to the domestic emergency, McHale said:
"I can tell you unequivocally that the ongoing war-fighting activities ... have had no negative effect at all (on) our ability to provide sufficient forces to assist civilian authorities in fighting the wildfires.... There is no manpower shortage."
McHale listed the following things the Pentagon is providing or has available, if asked:
_About 100 defense employees, including active duty military personnel and civilians, are fighting fires. That's 12 firefighting teams _ mostly civilian _ and their 12 fire engines.
_Some 1,500 Army National Guard and Air National Guardsmen are helping firefighters _ not on the fire lines, but doing other tasks to free up the firefighters.
_550 Marine Corps personnel at Camp Pendleton are preparing for possible firefighting duty.
_Another 17,301 National Guardsmen are available in California, if needed.
_Six C-130 aircraft fitted with firefighting systems are being sent to Point Mugu, two from the Air Force Reserve at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs and four from the Air National Guard in Wyoming and North Carolina. They were to arrive in California in time to begin flying missions Wednesday morning.
_11 Pentagon helicopters equipped with water buckets are available to help in fire suppression.
_Local bases, under emergency assistance authority, provided some 10,000 cots to local evacuation sites.
There are about 300,000 uniformed and civilian defense employees and dependents living in the San Diego area.
Fourteen hundred Navy personnel and family members have been evacuated to three U.S. Navy installations at Coronado, El Centro and San Diego _ something officials said would help make room at military bases for more civilian evacuees.