Department of Defense Homeland Defense Activities
Introduction
The United States Transportation Command that is commonly abbreviated as the USTRANSCOM is among the nine unified commands that are under the umbrella of the department of defense of United States of America. It was formed in the year 1987 and is headquartered in the Scott Air Force Base Illinois. It was formed to be the only major global transportation system of the American defense department. As a result, the primary objective of the USTRANSCOM is to transport as well as to coordinate assets and individuals respectively. Consequently, the United States of America would be in a position of achieving and sustaining success in their military projects if they are required. However, USTRANSCOM has been involved in several disasters as a way of assisting in the alleviation of pain (Transportation Command, 2012).
The Hurricane Sandy Disaster
An example of such cases is the participation of the USTRANSCOM in the hurricane Sandy that was advancing in towards the shores of the New Jersey. This operation occurred in the year 2012. Air Force Col. Rob Brisson was in charge of the operation, and he was on the ground to ensure that the overall process was a success. USTRANSCOM participated by forming a base that acted as a central point where events were monitored, executed, collaborated, as well as synchronized. In addition, they established a distributing network where the aid channeled together with the transportation of the rescuers. Consequently, USTRANSCOM ensured that troops, equipments, and supplies were transported to the site timely, smoothly, and in uninterrupted manner (Transportation Command, 2012).
As a result, the evacuation as well as the supply of the aid took place in the most secure and convenient manner. This was evident as claimed by one of the senior officers who took part in the operation by the name Ward. He categorically said that the central input of the USTRANCOM was to increase the response pace together with the alleviation of the victims’ sufferings. Moreover, he also pointed out that they were mandated to assist those who were adversely affected by the hurricane to resume their normal within the shortest time possible (Transportation Command, 2012).
Afghanistan War Disaster
Another disaster where USTRANSCOM has actively participated is the Afghanistan war. The Afghanistan citizens have suffered, where most of them have lost lives and properties. Moreover, the majority of the Afghanistan has been deprived of their social aspects of lives. Consequently, the economic aspects have also suffered a great deal. By the beginning of the 2013, USTRANSCOM intensified their operations in the Afghanistan where they have established communication lines and several of the multimodal sites. These sites hybridize the both the airlift and the sealift to transport commodities and people to the war-prone Afghanistan (Miles, 2012).
The multimodal sites that have been used by the USRTANSCOM include Romania, Spain, Rota, as well as the Constanta. Through these routes, the USTRANSCOM have achieved a considerable success in the transportation of the troops and the materials to the Afghanistan despite the closure of the Ground Lines Communication (GLOC) by the Pakistan government in the year 2012. In particularly USTRANSCOM has managed to deploy as well as redeploy a massive 213,000 personnel. In addition, they have also assisted in relocating over 284,000 STONs of materials out of the war-prone areas of the Afghanistan (Miles, 2012).
Apart from transportation of materials and personnel, USTRANSCOM has also managed to train Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF). Additionally, USTRANSCOM has also equipped the ANSF with more than 10,000 tactical vehicles that are light and over 200 up-armored medium tactical vehicles. This Afghanistan operation ensured that the sufferings of the Afghanistan people are alleviated because of a constant supply of materials are maintained. In addition, the training and equipping of the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) has ensured that the ANSF are more than capable of dealing with the future attacks (Miles, 2012).
Haiti Earthquake Disaster
Haiti earthquake happened in the year 2010 where a memorable earthquake of a magnitude of seven hit the capital city, Port-au-Prince. From that earthquake, an approximated 150,000 died and were buried in the mass graves. Apart from the loss of lives, several properties were destroyed including the infrastructures. Among the organizations that responded was the USTRANSCOM. USTRANSCOM responded very quickly, where they assisted in the transportation of items such as food, water, shelter, and aid workers to the sites where the damages were severe. Moreover, they also facilitated the transport of the injured victims to other regions for the purposes of medication. In addition, they also transported the military experts together with the commercial experts to the port to ensure that it resumes its operation as fast as possible (U.S. Department of Defense, 2010).
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USTRANSCOM used different means to ensure that the materials and the skilled personnel access the region. Since the earthquake heavily damaged the road, they employed the use of sealift and the airlift in getting access to the affected areas. As a result, they ensured that the Haiti people had a quick recovery from the disaster. Furthermore, since they assisted in the transportation of the food, water, and aid workers to the hit area, they remarkably contributed towards the alleviation of pain to the victims (U.S. Department of Defense, 2010).
References
Miles, D. (2012), From Afghanistan to Sandy, TRANSCOM synchronizes support, American
Forces Press Service, 6 November 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=118463
Transportation Command (2012). The defense transportation regulation part III: Mobility.
Retrieved from: http://www.transcom.mil/dtr/part-iii/dtr_part_iii_toc.pdf
U.S. Department of Defense. (2010). Haiti earthquake, Retrieved from:
http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2010/1012_haitiearthquake/ U.S.