On Jan. 14, two days after a magnitude 7 earthquake shook Haiti, an international team of naval officers and associated partners was on board the USS Gunston Hall in Norfolk, Va.   The ship was fully loaded with food for a maritime security exercise in sub-Saharan Africa when Navy Capt. Cynthia Thebaud, commander of Destroyer Squadron 60, received a call to head to Haiti. “I don't think you could find a ship that has a better composition of people and things on board for this type of mission,” Thebaud said during a Jan.

Roughly 20,000 U.S. troops will be supporting relief efforts in Haiti by Jan. 24, military officials said, adding to the 13,000-strong American force currently there. Comprising the force will be the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade and thousands of other troops operating afloat off the Haitian coast and on shore, distributing provisions, assisting in medical operations and helping to maintain security.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., Jan. 18, 2010 – The Florida Air National Guard's 101st Air and Space Operations Group here is paving the way for air operations in the emergency response to Haiti.  Florida Guardsmen have been working to assist the Haitian government, Federal Aviation Administration, and U.S. Southern Command in coordinating the flow of supplies into Haiti’s Port-au-Prince Airport since Jan.

As the hospital ship USNS Comfort continues its race south to Haiti, sailors aboard the vessel race to get the facilities ready for the expected patients. The Comfort, bulling its way through stormy seas, will receive another 350 medical personnel and support staff when it reaches the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, Navy Capt. (Dr.) Jim Ware, commander of the medical treatment facility. This, he explained, will allow the staff to double the number of operating rooms. The staff wants 11 operating rooms ready upon arrival in Port-au-Prince, expected to be Jan. 21.

ABOARD USS CARL VINSON IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA, Jan. 15, 2010 – The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson arrived off the coast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, today to begin humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.  “Our initial focus is to concentrate on saving lives while providing first-responder support to the people of Haiti,” said Navy Rear Adm. Ted N. Branch, commander of the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and of the sea-based portion of the Navy’s humanitarian-support mission in the earthquake-stricken nation.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2010 – The shooting spree allegedly perpetrated by a self-radicalized soldier of Muslim faith has revealed shortcomings in the Defense Department’s ability to counter dangerous outside influences on the military, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today.  Gates disclosed this and several other key findings of a broad review he ordered after Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly killed 13 people in a Nov. 5 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.