Operation Sahayogi Haat
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Operation Sahayogi Haat ("helping hands") was a US military relief operation delivering humanitarian assistance to victims of the
April April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. It is the first of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the second of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. April is commonly associated with ...
and
May 2015 Nepal earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Nepal on 12 May 2015 at 12:50 pm local time (07:05 UTC) with a moment magnitude of 7.3, southeast of Kodari. The epicenter was on the border of Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk, two districts of Nepal. This earth ...
s. About 900 US military and civilian personnel were involved, with about 300 deployed in
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade was tasked to form Joint Task Force 505, which was responsible for managing the relief operation from May 6 to 26, 2015.


Background

A
magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...
MW 7.8 earthquake struck the region of
Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
in Nepal on April 25, 2015. Operation Sahayogi Haat ( Nepali: "helping hands") for humanitarian relief operations was put into action by Joint Task Force 505 on May 6. This task force was put into operation to organize the humanitarian relief efforts to limit further loss of life and suffering. The task force provided the U.S. military response to additionally support Nepal’s government. It joined the efforts that were already going by the Joint Humanitarian Assistance Survey Team and the
U.S. Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 ...
and
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) was an organizational unit within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) charged by the President of the United States with directing and coordinating international United ...
Response Team. These humanitarian services along with urban search and rescue teams were already delivered to Nepal by the
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
. A statement from the U.S. Department of Defense says that their fast response relief efforts in Nepal likely reduced the scale of further disaster following the earthquake. Another earthquake on May 12 of MW 7.3 struck the same general region of
Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
on the same fault as the April earthquake. Humanitarian relief efforts were immediately deployed. A U.S. Marine Corps Bell UH-1Y "Venom" Huey, BuNo ''168792'', 'SE-08', of
Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...
-based HMLA-469 "Vengeance" was declared missing on May 12 while supporting the relief operations in the
Charikot Bhimeshwar, (formerly ''Charikot''), is a municipality in north-eastern Nepal and the headquarters of Dolakha District in Bagmati Province that was established in 1997 by merging the former Village development committees Charikot, Dolakha Town, ...
Region of the Himalaya Mountains. The
Nepalese Army The Nepali Army ( ne, नेपाली सेना, translit=Nēpālī Sēnā), technically the Gorkhali Army ( ne, गोरखाली सेना, translit=Gōrakhālī Sēnā, label=none; see ''Gorkhas''), is the land service branch ...
discovered the crash site on Friday, May 15. All eight service members aboard perished. The six U.S. Marines are: Capt Dustin R. Lukasiewicz, Capt Christopher L. Norgen, Sgt Ward M. Johnson IV, Sgt Eric M. Seaman, Cpl Sara A. Medina and LCpl Jacob A. Hug. The two Nepalese soldiers are: Tapendra Rawal and Basanta Titara. On May 15 an "Open Letter" from the People of Nepal remembering the Marines was published. It was thereafter replied to by Peter W. Bodde, Ambassador of the United States of America to Nepal.


Personnel and supplies

There were a total of about 900 U.S. military personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps that contributed to the relief effort under Joint Task Force 505 management. There were about 300 in Nepal, 320 in the main headquarters in Japan, and 280 at the Intermediate Staging Base in Thailand. The U.S. military contributed three Marine Corps UH-1Y Huey helicopters, four Marine Corps
MV-22B Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...
tiltrotor aircraft A tiltrotor is an aircraft which generates lift and propulsion by way of one or more powered rotors (sometimes called ''proprotors'') mounted on rotating shafts or nacelles usually at the ends of a fixed wing. Almost all tiltrotors use a trans ...
, four Air Force
C-17 Globemaster III The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two ...
, four Air Force
C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...
and four Marine Corps KC-130J Hercules aircraft to the relief effort. Between arrival on May 5 and through May 18, working with the Nepalese army, 42 Airmen from the 36th Contingency Response Group offloaded more than of cargo from 80 aircraft at the
Tribhuvan International Airport Tribhuvan International Airport ( Nepali: त्रिभुवन अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय विमानस्थल) (, colloquially referred to as TIA) is an international airport located in Kathmandu, Bagmati, Nepal. I ...
. According to Capt. Brint Ingersoll, Operations Officer, this "is the most cargo the 36th CRG has downloaded in one disaster relief operation." The American task force acted in concert with over 60 other nations in relief operations. The
Royal Thai Navy The Royal Thai Navy ( Abrv: RTN, ทร.; th, กองทัพเรือไทย, ) is the naval warfare force of Thailand. Established in 1906, it was modernised by the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse (1880–1923) who is known as ...
materially assisted relief efforts. The
Nepal Army The Nepali Army ( ne, नेपाली सेना, translit=Nēpālī Sēnā), technically the Gorkhali Army ( ne, गोरखाली सेना, translit=Gōrakhālī Sēnā, label=none; see ''Gorkhas''), is the land service branch ...
continued its
Operation Sankat Mochan Operation Sankat Mochan ( Nepali: संकट मोचन, Operation Crisis Relief) is a Nepal Army earthquake relief operation following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake; the Nepal Army has deployed 90 percent of its force. Operation Nepal arm ...
to aid the affected population along with the
Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
and delivered several tons of relief materials, and rescued stranded people. The China International Search and Rescue Team deployed 68 of its members, as well as six search and rescue dogs, to Nepal via chartered plane in the early morning of April 26, Beijing time. The task force was deactivated on May 26, 2015. During the operation the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
reported about of relief supplies had been deployed. That included shelter kits with blankets, medical supplies, and emergency supplemental food supplies including water. They also reported the transportation of 553 personnel rescues and 69
casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
evacuations that were carried out since the operation began.


See also

*
Operation Sankat Mochan Operation Sankat Mochan ( Nepali: संकट मोचन, Operation Crisis Relief) is a Nepal Army earthquake relief operation following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake; the Nepal Army has deployed 90 percent of its force. Operation Nepal arm ...
, the
Nepal Army The Nepali Army ( ne, नेपाली सेना, translit=Nēpālī Sēnā), technically the Gorkhali Army ( ne, गोरखाली सेना, translit=Gōrakhālī Sēnā, label=none; see ''Gorkhas''), is the land service branch ...
earthquake relief operation *
Operation Maitri Operation Maitri (Operation Amity) was a rescue and relief operation in Nepal by the government of India and Indian Armed Forces, Indian armed forces in the aftermath of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. Indian government responded within few min ...
, the
Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by ...
earthquake relief operation *
Humanitarian response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake An earthquake struck Nepal at on 25 April 2015 with a moment magnitude of 7.8 (or 8.1 Ms) and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). It was the most powerful earthquake to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake. Many thou ...


References


Notes


Citations


External links


Operation Sahayogi Haat, Nepal Earthquake Relief
US Department of Defense
General Wissler's Remarks: Press Conference Operation Sahayogi Haat May 20
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahayogi Haat, Operation Operation Sahayogi Haat Operation Sahayogi Haat Humanitarian military operations Operation Sahayogi Haat peration Sahayogi Haat Non-combat military operations involving Nepal Non-combat military operations involving the United States