PEACE [CONTINUED FROM PAGE 69]


explains Saunders. They might land on a bit of road or in the remnants of a courtyard. Sometimes when there was nowhere to land, they would hover over a small patch of dry land and push the food out the back to clamoring locals. Loads were considerable and in-


cluded fl our, rice, and biscuits. “The most food we carried was 100,000 pounds in a day. We’d average 50,000- 60,000 pounds per day,” Saunders says. The Marine experience was not unique; Army CH-47 Chinook heli- copters made similar runs. “From when we started fl ying in early September until we packed up in early November, the focus was the avi- ation delivery of aid,” says Marine Col. Mark Desens, 26th MEU commander. “Vertical lift was the hero of the day.” Desens, no stranger to disaster re- sponse, talked from the Kearsarge off the Libyan coast in April 2011. The mission challenged his Marines, who fl ew from dawn to dusk under condi- tions no one would envy. “It was 120 degrees or more every day. The hu- midity was 100 percent. There was no clean water anywhere.” His tone light- ens, “But it’s such gratifying work; you don’t get tired of doing it.”


MO


— Contributing Editor Gina DiNicolo is a freelance writer based in Virginia. Her last feature article for Military Offi cer was “Engendering Trust,” March 2011.


WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU


Are humanitarian operations a wise use of military resources? Click on Humanitarian Oper- ations at www.moaa.org/discussion or mail MOAA, Attn: Editor, 201 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314, to share your thoughts.


JULY 2011 MILITARY OFFICER 79


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