Navy and Marines, Ready and Wasted

[selenite0]

One of the bits I heard early on about the disaster was that the helicopter carrier USS Bataan was in position near New Orleans and arrived shortly after the hurricane passed over. Then I didn't hear much more about it, but I figured it just wasn't getting publicized. Nope. A floating power station, fresh water generator, and hospital, carrying a bunch of helicopters and boats, got ignored. I expect a certain level of incompetence in any organization. I know the logistics of getting heavy trucks through an area with damaged bridges is tough. But this pisses me off.

UPDATE: It looks like the helicopter squadron was used, running full out in fact. But the rest of the ship's capabilities, not so much.

Comments

[daveamongus.livejournal.com]

I coulda swore I said this would have been a great idea, um, Monday... or was it Tuesday?

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Yep, you did. And it was a great idea. Especially since it was already @#$%ing there.

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

I'm eager to hear exactly what kept this ship from being used - the power and communications services which it could have offered would have come in awfully handy, not to mention the hospital element...

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

Shades of the mobile hospital complete with volunteer doctors, nurses, and staff that is just today being allowed to treat...

"Ready and Wasted" about says it all.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

I expect there is no "exactly." Just a lot of bureaucrats--appointed, elected, and commissioned--unwilling to take responsibility for making a decision. "City can't give them orders, we're civilian." "State guard can't give them orders, we're army." "Well, the state government can't tell them what to do, we can't afford to have the Navy bill us for the operation." "Consult with Legal and have them get back to us tomorrow." "FEMA can task them but that's a state operation, so we can't operate there" Doesn't take much of that to eat up the whole week, and then they're off to Mississippi because somebody there can make a decision.

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

Infuriating.

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

One thing which is good about the military is that the officers will own up to their decision-making process. We generally don't want military commanders making truly independent decisions (civilian control, and all that), but it'll be instructive to see who was late in giving orders...

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

I just ran across this: From an officer on the Baatan, saying that in fact they WERE mobilized.

Interesting...

[selenite.livejournal.com]

That's good info. But it looks like the helicopter squadron was running full-out, and the rest of the ship's capabilities didn't get much use.