More on the Pakistan relief efforts

U.S. Military Efforts Continue in Pakistan Earthquake Relief - Oct 13

U.S. Army Europe officials reported that the 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, 30th Medical Brigade, based in Miesau, Germany, will establish and run a 36-bed medical facility in the stricken region.

The 123rd Main Support Battalion, 1st Armored Division, based in Dexheim, Germany, is providing a water purification detachment, which can take water from almost any source and make it potable using the reverse osmosis water purification unit. And the 66th Military Intelligence Group, based in Darmstadt, Germany, will provide translators to support the relief effort.

Officials at Fort McPherson, Ga., report the U.S. Army Reserve has been called to send helicopters to Pakistan. Today, about 200 Army Reservists and 12 CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters from Company B, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, received orders to deploy. The company, with headquarters in Olathe, Kan., recently was mobilized and had reported to Fort Sill, Okla., as part of a rotation in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Today's order alters their mission, officials said.

Quake relief effort foments goodwill - Oct 13

In a move that could boost America’s battered profile in the Islamic world, the U.S. military has diverted eight heavy-lifting choppers from the war on terrorism in neighboring Afghanistan to help victims of the monster earthquake. It’s due to send another two dozen helicopters from further afield in the days ahead.

"I don’t have a bad feeling about America," said Wali ur-Rehman, a bereaved father of four lost children who carried his surviving 2-year old son Kalil on board in his arms. "It’s a long, long way away and they are helping us."

Military in Pakistan as wanted - Oct 14

"My view is that we will be here as long as Pakistan wants us, to demonstrate our friendship," Navy Rear Admiral Michael Lefever told The Associated Press.

Lefever said America now has 13 helicopters ferrying rescue workers and supplies to the quake zone — including eight Chinooks, three Blackhawks and two heavy-lifting MH-53s — and has begun dropping relief supplies by air from C-130s.

He said one C-130 took off Friday from Bagram Airbase, the main U.S. base in neighboring Afghanistan, and dropped three large palettes of tents, medicine and blankets in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the quake-devastated portion of Kashmir that Pakistan controls.

USS Pearl Harbor, Seabees To Take Relief Equipment To Aid Earthquake Victims In Pakistan - Oct 14

USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) made a brief port stop in Bahrain, Oct. 14 where Sailors loaded 13 pieces of heavy equipment bound for Pakistan. The machinery will be used to assist the victims of the worst earthquake in that country’s history.

Pearl Harbor, a dock landing ship, usually transports Marines and their combat equipment to areas worldwide. The crew of approximately 425 is on a regularly scheduled deployment to the North Arabian Gulf as part of maritime security operations, or MSO, and it received orders to change course in order to load dump trucks, front-end loaders, backhoes, cargo trucks, a road grader, a forklift and a generator.

What if this were my son?



(The caption for this photo, courtesy of the DoD, read: An injured Pakistani boy is carried by his father to a U.S. Navy MH-53E Sea Stallion helicopter in Muzafarabad, Pakistan, Oct. 14, 2005. He will be transported to the city of Chaklala, Pakistan for medical treatment. Two helicopters from Helicopter Mine Countermeasure Squadron 15's Bahrain detachment made the three-day flight to northern Pakistan to assist in the relief efforts. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy Smith)

Here are quite a few more photos on the relief efforts.

All over this planet, where ever you go, there will be Americans helping those in need. And leading the way will be the US military.

US military relief efforts in Pakistan - Oct 13

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