Recent U.S. Navy tsunami relief efforts in support of Operation Unified Assistance have dramatically highlighted the capacity and flexibility of carrier and expeditionary strike groups to provide a wide range of capabilities in rapid response to an immense humanitarian crisis.
Led by the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) Strike Group, forward-deployed naval forces were among the first to respond to international requests for humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions following the devastation wrought by the tsunami on 26 December in the Banda Aceh region of Indonesia. Within days of the disaster, U.S. Navy helicopters from the Lincoln Strike Group, as well as the Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) and later Essex (LHD-2) Expeditionary Strike Groups (ESGs), established round-the-clock relief operations that were widely credited with stemming suffering and saving thousands of lives in the aftermath of the disaster.
Planning for the tsunami relief operations began on 28 December as the Lincoln Strike Group sprinted toward the Andaman Sea. With news arriving by the hour highlighting the scope and magnitude of the disaster, it became apparent that the enormous capability of deployed carrier strike groups (CSG) and amphibious expeditionary strike groups (ESG) were our nation’s most capable option to assist the people of Banda Aceh.
Strike Group Helicopters Bear the Burden
Relief operations commenced on 1 January 2005. Lincoln, situated 15 miles northwest of Banda Aceh, cleared its flight deck of fixed-wing aircraft to make way for rotary-wing operations. The CVW helicopter team launched 13 of the 15 available H-60s (11 on Lincoln, two each on the cruiser Shiloh (CG-67) and destroyer Shoup (DDG-86)), to commence an unprecedented carrier-based helicopter airlift surge operation. Carrier Air Wing Two, acting as air combat commander, was optimized for a primarily rotary-wing relief effort. For the first time in U.S. Naval history, the helicopter force was comprised of three distinct squadrons that represented the future helicopter organization within the CSG: Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Two (HS-2), Helicopter Anti-Submarine (Light) Squadron 47 (HSL-47) and Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 11 (HC-11) Detachment 2. As part of the “Bravo to Sea” proof-of-concept, the SH-60B squadron deployed not in the customary detachments but as an integrated squadron that included a four-aircraft command element on board Lincoln and two combat elements (previously termed “detachments”) on the cruiser/destroyer units of the strike group. This precedent-setting operational arrangement gave RADM William D. Crowder (Commander Strike Group Nine) and CAPT Lawrence D. Burt (Commander Air Wing Two) enormous flexibility and control over the CSG’s rotary-wing support.
The helicopter assets of the CSG and ESG were especially well-suited for this disaster. The force of the tsunami destroyed more than 75 percent of coastal bridges and 25 percent of coastal roadways, making many villages and refugee camps accessible only by rotary-wing aircraft. Initial humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations focused on delivering critical supplies and evacuating the most critically injured victims. Additionally, Navy helicopters flew representatives of international relief agencies as they assessed the magnitude of the damage and the condition of remote villages across the region.
Over the course of the relief operations, HS-2, HSL-47, and HC-11 aircrews, in addition to several air-wing volunteers, developed a ground communications and relief distribution center at the Banda Aceh Airport. As loading operations became increasingly efficient and delivery more organized, the combined efforts of all the Navy helicopters began to average more than 100,000 pounds of aid materiel daily.
Essex ESG Helos Supplement Relief Efforts
The arrival of Essex and its MH-60S and MH-53E helicopters from HC-5 and HM-15 resulted in the movement of more than one million pounds of relief aid to the most remote and desperate areas of the region. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates that the immediate and overwhelming support provided by Navy and Marine Corps helicopters to isolated villages along the west coast of Sumatra saved nearly 20,000 lives.
Despite the efforts of other countries to deliver aid, none could match the volume of relief delivered by Naval MH-53E and H-60 helicopters. Each H-60 is capable of delivering from 1,000 to 6,000 pounds of food, water or personnel per mission, while the MH-53E could move more than 25,000 pounds of personnel and materiel per sortie. During relief operations, the tempo was so high that within 15 days, most of the CVW helicopter squadrons had exceeded 1,000 flight hours.
Carrier based rotary-wing capability, while critical to the success of Operation Unified Assistance, was not the only help provided by the CSG/ESG. Navy air traffic controllers assisted overwhelmed Indonesian controllers in Banda Aceh’s temporary tower. Navy aircraft handling expertise was used to clear a damaged Boeing 737 that temporarily closed the region’s only runway. Navy culinary specialists churned out thousands of box lunches to feed relief personnel and tsunami survivors. Medical personnel from Lincoln, Shiloh and Shoup manned the hospital tent at the airfield and accompanied aircraft on relief missions. Engineers from Lincoln provided potable water and assisted in repairing generators and water filtration systems at local hospitals.
Intelligence efforts shifted from targeting for strikes to targeting for supplies. The Carrier Intelligence Center was adapted to track the delivery of relief supplies, determine damage to lines of communication and develop priorities for the following days’ relief. Their work was so effective that much of it was adopted by the World Health Organization.
Finally, Operation Unified Assistance demonstrated the CSG’s ability to provide access and sustained maritime capability whether in the combat or humanitarian role as part of the emerging Sea Basing pillar of the Sea Power 21 concept. Arriving on station within days of notification, the Lincoln CSG and sister ESGs provided a steady flow of aviation assets, relief supplies, medical assistance, technical expertise, force protection, and command and control to support international relief efforts in a region without operating infrastructure.
Simply put, whether providing sustained combat capability or humanitarian assistance, our forward-deployed CSGs and ESGs have demonstrated in graphic detail the unmatched capability and flexibility that our naval strike groups provide the Commander in Chief in times of crisis.
Ed Note: RADM Tom Kilcline, a 1973 graduate of the Naval Academy, was designated a Naval Aviator in 1975 and received orders as a pilot to the fighter community where he flew operationally with VF-51, VF-126 and VF-213. Kilcline has commanded VF-154, Carrier Air Wing 14 and Carrier Group Two.
Shore assignments include the staff of 2nd Fleet, CNO Chair to the National War College, Executive Assistant to Deputy, European Command, Chief of Staff for Commander Naval Air Forces, and most recently, Director, Naval Aviation Plans and Requirements (N780). He was named Director, Air Warfare Division in August 2004.
RADM Kilcline in 32 years has amassed more than 5,300 flight hours in the F-4, F-14, F/A-18, A-4 and F-5 aircraft, and has logged 1,150 carrier arrested landings.