Haiti from Jamie's Perspective

January 13th started like any other day. Jamie was up early and off to work for squadron physical training (PT). It was after PT that Jamie got the word he would be leaving that afternoon to the earth quake devastated country of Haiti. So, by lunch he had already been home, packed, and was on his way back to work to board the plane.
While emergency supply delivery was the ultimate goal of the mission, Jamie's first flight in was to bring supplies to set up a new air traffic control tower. Like everything else, the airport traffic control tower had fallen during the earthquake. Imagine being on an island where the only emergency delivery method is aircraft, but your airport is non-functional!
These were Jamie's accommodations for the first 3 days.

Yes, that is an airline baggage cart. He and the person in the picture shared this cart, along with their luggage, until tents arrived!
The sleeping arrangement wasn't ideal, but Jamie said he really didn't sleep for the first few days. It was a non-stop drive to get in everything necessary to operate an airport. Without a control tower there were no eyes on lookout to see who was landing and where. According to Jamie, they were walking/running down the mile long runway, countless times a day, briefing and unloading the aircraft as they arrived.
Once everything was set up, the true mission started. The runway was outlined with boxes like these.

These are boxes of MREs waiting to be picked up and delivered.

Among the military, there is a common misconception that the Navy has the easiest job. Take a look at the picture. Those guys/gals are working!!!! All of the MREs were loaded on the helicopters by hand!!!!
And so set in the daily grind. In a few spare moments they gathered to eat over a generator,

posed for a random picture with an abandoned aircraft parked on the flightline,

saw John Travolta (that's his airplane and arm sticking out of the window),

and ran into and old friend who was stationed with us in New Jersey and Okinawa.

Of course, while things were looking better and running somewhat smoothly on the base, it was still an austere location. This, is the gas station.

Look closely. You can see the fuel tanker with a hose running out of it to another truck. No, that is not the truck being refueled. The truck is being used because it had a pump. So, in reality, the fuel is being sucked from the tanker to the truck in the middle and then pumped to the truck at the far left (you can see the edge of the tire in the picture). Don't worry, it was diesel fuel, so the huge puddles of fuel on the ground don't pose much danger...
And if you thought the conditions at the airport were unimaginable, take a look at what Jamie got to see on his drive through town.
From the Presidential Palace,

to the neighborhood corner,

it makes me thankful for the rules and regulations, especially building codes, that are imposed on Americans.