The Foreign Service Journal, April 2010

40 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 1 0 S MALL N UMBERS , B IG H EARTS Despite being half a world away, the staff of the American Institute in Taiwan pulled together to help raise funds for disaster and emergency re- lief in Haiti. Taiwan itself is still recovering from the effects of Typhoon Mora- kot, which washed away roads, homes, and an entire village in Au- gust 2009, causing more than 460 deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars in agricultural losses. Perhaps because of this, members of the AIT commu- nity dug deep, hosting Breakfasts for Haiti, Super Bowl parties, and other events. These raised more than $8,000 for Haiti relief, including more than $5,400 for the FSN Emergency Relief Fund (approximately 5 percent of the funds that were raised worldwide in 2009). Dianna G. Kim Community Outreach Group American Institute in Taiwan A T THE “E PICENTER ” OF R ELIEF E FFORTS Within minutes of the earthquake that rocked the Hait- ian capital of Port-au-Prince, the United States govern- ment sprang into action. While high-level deliberations took place in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Southern Com- mand quickly engaged in what is likely the largest human- itarian assistance and disaster relief mission in the command’s history. Operation Unified Response is now the highest priority for the U.S. military in the region. Joint Task Force Haiti was swiftly established to support the ef- forts of the U.S. Agency for International Development — the lead federal agency for providing humanitarian as- sistance and disaster relief to the Haitian people. SOUTHCOM is the joint U.S. military geographic combatant command tasked with conducting military op- erations in Latin America and the Caribbean and promot- ing security cooperation to achieve U.S. strategic object- ives. But it is more than a military command — it’s truly an interagency-oriented organization. Because of SOUTHCOM’s outward focus, there were already many representatives aboard from various federal organizations, and we quickly drew on each other’s strengths and expertise. The State Department is one of the many external agencies in- volved in this crisis with a perma- nent presence in the command. And, as SOUTHCOM liaisons mi- grated to other U.S. government agencies, representatives from out- side military and civilian organiza- tions rushed to join our team in this whole-of-government response. Within days the number of staff at the command swelled considerably. Initially the command’s priorities centered on coordi- nating search-and-rescue operations, providing emer- gency medical care and delivering supplies. Within hours, U.S. Coast Guard personnel were conducting medical evacuations and airlifts of injured Americans — including a military colleague I had served with on a pre- vious tour abroad. I found myself, along with fellow For- eign Service and interagency colleagues assigned to SOUTHCOM, at the “epicenter” for the coordination of these relief efforts. We established timely and effective communication among military staff, leadership in Wash- ington and Embassy Port-au-Prince. As SOUTHCOMprovided critical theater logistics sup- port to deployed forces, the interagency and multinational partners, State personnel at the command, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s Miami Field Office, the U.S. Pass- port Agency and the Florida Regional Center all worked diligently to coordinate operations. Our combined efforts successfully enabled the immediate deployment of DS agents, consular officers, equipment and supplies to Haiti. All this provided much needed support to Embassy Port- au-Prince and facilitated the safe and expedited repatria- tion of thousands of American citizens on military aircraft to designated safe-haven locations in the States. Concurrent with these efforts, Foreign Service col- leagues from various agencies are collaborating to refine objectives and desired outcomes as operations transition from emergency response functions, to providing broader relief to earthquake victims and, eventually, to reconstruction efforts. Joseph I. Nieto Supervisory Special Agent Diplomatic Security Service Liaison Officer to SOUTHCOM F O C U S “We all work for the same government, and you have skills that make you valuable in Haiti right now. We’ll be fine here. Go.”