From Behind the Scenes to the Thick of the Action

Having been just behind the scenes during Operation Sea Angel II I was anxious to view relief efforts on my own. So I jumped at the chance to fly to Barisal from Dhaka to see the operations personally. I was accompanied by a dozen or so local media that were going to the USS Tarawa since this was the last day of Phase 1 of the relief services being provided to the Bangladesh people by the US military. We took a C-130 and I could tell by the reaction of the press that it was the first time they had been on this type of plane for most of us. Some of us were a little scared after we saw how much wind was generated by the plane and I felt like I was in an old military movie. Nevertheless, we had a short safety briefing and had a pleasant trip to Barisal, the staging area for distribution of relief materials. At the Barisal airport, I asked the US military about their impression of the Bangladeshi military’s role in providing relief efforts. They had many accolades about how well organized, prepared and well led the Bangladeshi military was. They said that they had gained a lot of respect for the Bangladesh military.

Then I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was going to accompany the local press via a CH-53 military helicopter to actually board the USS Tarawa and see the ship for myself. The ship was awesome. There are over 2000 military personnel aboard and they do an amazing job of keeping the transport going to provide relief material delivery to very remote areas of Bangladesh.

I then attended a press conference on the Tarawa. Interestingly enough, the reporters who earlier expressed concern at the US military remaining in Bangladesh too long now were questioning how relief efforts would continue without the US military’s participation. However, the chargé d’affaires, Geeta Pasi reassured the press and Bangladeshi people that help from the US is not finished. We are now entering the medium and long term relief effort operations and as before the cyclone and after the US Embassy – Dhaka and U.S. Aid for International Development will continue to be involved with a multitude of projects to rebuild areas devastated by the cyclone and assist those affected with a new beginning as requested by the Bangladeshi government.

Pamela K. (Department of State employee)