V-22 Osprey, Amphibs Prove Value During Typhoon Haiyan Operations.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

When Typhoon Haiyan smashed through the Philippines Nov. 8, whipping the islands with 200-mile-per-hour winds and killing thousands, the U.S. military was already mobilizing disaster relief resources.

Three days later, when the Philippine government reached out for international aid, the Navy and Marine Corps were able to deliver airlift and search-and-rescue services within hours.

From bases on the Japanese island of Okinawa, the United States sent the USS George Washington carrier task force and elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, together totaling 13,000 sailors and Marines.

But before they could arrive, two squadrons of MV-22 Ospreys and their crews stationed in Okinawa were already on the scene delivering crucial aid. They were able to use a local runway that was still too damaged for fixed-wing aircraft, and deploy from Clark Air Base, some 400 miles away from the disaster zone.

The ensuing "Operation Damayan" was a chance for the Marine Corps to flex its muscle as a global emergency response force--a professed goal of the service within a Pacific-centric U.S. national security strategy.

But budget cuts, especially to shipbuilding, threaten the availability of naval forces when disasters occur, which they do with frequency throughout the vast Asia-Pacific region, current and former service leaders said.

With only a handful of ships, the Navy and Marines were able to provide search-and-rescue sorties, transportation of aid workers into and out of disaster areas, road clearance, supply distribution and civilian evacuations, according to a Congressional Research Service report published Nov. 25.

At its peak, the operation involved 13 ships and 34 aircraft--including V-22 Ospreys and H-60 helicopters--with 1,000 troops deployed directly to areas affected by the storm, the report said. The immediacy of the response and the wealth of capabilities brought to bear for humanitarian relief would not have been possible without the forward presence of the Navy and Marine Corps, the report said. "DoD's initial response to Typhoon Hai-yan was greatly facilitated by the advanced warning of the storm as well as naval, air and Marine Corps assets either visiting or stationed in mainland Japan and the Japanese island of Okinawa," it said.

Retired Rear Adm. Terry McKnight said the long-term relationship the United States shares with the Philippines and the proximity of available forces allowed for swift and cooperative response to the disaster.

"They didn't have to ask. We were in motion," he said, though the Philippines did formally request humanitarian aid from the U.S. military.

Fewer ships and a scaled back presence abroad threaten the goal of being a global crisis response force, McKnight said. The threads began to show in 2011 when the necessary forces were not available to evacuate civilians...