US aircraft carrier shuttling aid into Haiti (News Feature)

By Mike McCarthy Jan 21, 2010, 5:00 GMT

Aboard the USS Carl Vinson - The crew manning the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson moved at a quick yet deliberate pace, unloading supplies in support of relief operations in Haiti.

Helicopters ferrying aid to Haiti came and went as two C-2 planes landed within minutes of each other to drop off goods. Dozens of the crew formed lines to shuffle boxes off while the planes refuelled. In less than an hour, the planes were unloaded and back up in the air.

'We've been having a moving flight deck all day,' Ensign Leslie Hubbell said.

The Carl Vinson was among the first ships to get to the Haitian coast to support the humanitarian mission following magnitude-7 earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, devastating the impoverished Caribbean country.

The death toll is estimated at 200,000, and many more are injured or without food, water and shelter.

The work aboard the Carl Vinson provides a glimpse into the massive international effort to help Haiti recover from its worst earthquake ever. The United Nations has been playing a lead role along with the United States, and dozens of other countries and aid organizations have sent help.

A group of Marine ships arrived off the coast earlier this week, and the US military expects to soon have as many as 10,000 soldiers on the ground in Haiti or on vessels offshore.

Aircraft have been shuttling between the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the capital Port-au-Prince and other hard- hit areas of the country, delivering supplies.

Marine helicopters from the nearby USS Bataan ran multiple missions to bring water to various areas in Haiti secured by Marines on the ground.

The Carl Vinson's deck was loaded with crates of bottled water and food. In addition, its desalination plant for converting ocean water into drinking water was running at maximum capacity, which translates into 400,000 gallons of water daily, Commander Thurraya Kent said.

The scene on the carrier's deck is intense. Crew scrambled to direct aircraft on the deck, keeping track of personnel and ensuring the smooth flow of traffic.

'It just keeps going,' said Chief Raymond Gray, who was running the refuelling operation from the flight deck command post. 'This isn't training. We're doing this for real.'

The Carl Vinson was preparing to return to deployment after a five-year hiatus in the docks for mid-life refuelling of the two nuclear reactors that power the ship. The crew was supposed to be on a training mission as it headed back to its assigned base in San Diego, California.

After only a couple days at sea, it was ordered to the Haitian coast. When the Carl Vinson arrived, its first order of business was to begin airlift and evacuate the wounded, who were brought to the ship for medical treatment. That part of the mission has wound down after the USNS Comfort, a massive hospital ship, arrived on the scene Wednesday morning.

Rear Admiral Ted Branch, who is heading the naval effort off the Haitian coast from the carrier, told reporters embedded with the military that he expects the US Navy to have a presence off Haiti for months and perhaps longer.

He said there were several areas of Haiti that have still not been reached with supplies. Getting there is becoming an increasingly critical part of the mission, he said.

'There are many places in Haiti,' Branch said, 'that we have not yet been to.'