PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in no way detracts from U.S. Northern Command’s number one job, said USNORTHCOM Commander Adm. Timothy J. Keating in a press conference here Friday.
"Despite the enormous effort we are making to support the hurricane survivors, Northern Command’s primary mission is homeland defense, and our vigilance in that regard is unwavering," Keating said. For example, he said, USNORTHCOM personnel are already preparing for next week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York by moving "numerous" Department of Defenses forces into the area and, as always, "watching our ports, our skies [and] our borders."
At the same time, thousands of Department of Defense personnel deployed to Mississippi and Louisiana continue to care for hurricane survivors.
"We have about 20,000 active duty forces in the region," Keating said. "Soldiers and Marines are actively conducting search and rescue, evaluation, humanitarian assistance and presence operations, and have taken part in waterborne search and rescue with the United States Coast Guard and local authorities."
As of Friday, the Department of Defense had also helped deliver more than 32 million liters of water, nearly 80 million pounds of ice and 15 million Meals Ready to Eat. Air Force personnel had moved more than 23,000 passengers, more than 10 tons of supplies and more than 2,500 patients, while also treating nearly 6,000 patients at Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans.
"We are continuing search and rescue operations throughout Louisiana and Mississippi areas and continuing to assist with the distribution of water, food and ice," Keating said. "We have thousands of beds available for medical assistance if required. We are assisting in debris clearing, which of course is a significant effort following a disaster of this magnitude.
"We think we’re bringing stability and security to the disaster zone."
USNORTHCOM personnel "responded well" to Hurricane Katrina, Keating said, but "that is not to say that there aren’t lessons to be learned." Nearly 50 USNORTHCOM representatives have been sent to the Gulf Coast to talk with federal, state and local officials, as well as representatives from Joint Forces Command. They will compile "an exhaustive critical lessons learned report," Keating said, "which we will then use so we don’t just have lessons observed, but we have lessons learned."
While Keating predicts that USNORTHCOM’s involvement with hurricane relief efforts will probably be "measured in weeks," he said the command’s primary mission is never-ending.
"I need to emphasize one more time," he said, "that we’re not taking our eyes off the larger mission of deterring and preventing and defeating attacks on those who would threaten the United States of America."