4th Fleet Focus: Reacting to the Weather

We don't really see this very often.

U.S. Southern Command has directed Commander, Fourth Fleet to divert the amphibious ship USS KEARSARGE (LHD 3) to Haiti to assist with relief efforts in areas affected by flooding due to tropical storm activity in the Caribbean.

Kearsarge will depart today from its present location in Santa Marta, Colombia to Haiti and will join other U.S. assistance operations in the vicinity of Port au Prince on 7 Sept.

Kearsarge is currently supporting phase two of Continuing Promise 2008, a humanitarian assistance mission that includes assisting partner nations impacted by natural disasters and other emergencies resulting in human suffering or danger to human lives.

I'm trying to remember, did Mercy go to the Philippines after the Cyclone as a reaction or part of the schedule? I thought the ship remained on schedule and arrived later. I don't remember Comfort returning to Peru last year when the earthquake happened. During the GFS last year, I also don't remember HSV Swift adapting to hurricane events, or Fort McHenry adapting much during its GFS in Africa.

But lets shoot straight here. Instead of deploying a ship from Norfolk, the Navy is moving a LHD from its regularly scheduled deployment to Colombia all the way to Haiti, while also deploying another LHD to prepare for response to future hurricanes.

Looking at this, it is clear we can do soft power this way and respond big, but it raises the question if the Navy's approach to soft power, HA, disaster response, etc.. is smart. The Wasp class is 6th largest class of warship in the world, and the other five are aircraft carrier classes, 4 of which are single ship classes and only 2 of which aren't US.

After reading Captain Bob throughout his deployment, I'm convinced that forward presence is critical for soft power, and that forward established presence shouldn't be a warship. Let what responds be a warship. I could be wrong, but it just seems we would want to do this without the commitment of our most important ships, even if they are the most flexible.