Needed Security for More Airdrops

Gen. Douglas Fraser, head of US Southern Command, says Joint Task Force-Haiti could not provide more airdrops during relief operations in earthquake-ravaged Haiti simply because there wasn’t enough security on the ground. Talking about lessons learned during AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando last week, Fraser said the task force had requests for more airdrops but there was no way to guarantee proper distribution so the supplies would reach those most in need. He praised the work of the RQ-4 Global Hawk element from Beale AFB, Calif., and other intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance assets for their work, especially in the initial days when they helped track displaced groups of people. “In this situation they migrated a lot from place to place,” he said. Fraser advocated even quicker set up of additional airfields to help handle the flow of supplies within the country. He said, “The quicker … the better.” (Also see above, Avoiding Gridlock)