Feral Jundi

Friday, March 11, 2011

Black Swan Events: Earthquake/Tsunami In Japan, Uprisings In The Middle East

     This is tragic, and my heart goes out to all those impacted by these disasters.  I was watching the tsunami in Japan on television and the footage was remarkable.  The tsunami was a result of an earthquake and it has pummeled Japan. There is a tsunami warning for Hawaii, other Pacific islands, and the entire West Coast in the US. To follow this stuff, definitely track the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and your local news to get updates.

     A couple of things that come to mind on this.  This event, along with what is going on in Libya and potentially in Saudi Arabia, are all combining to make a Blackswan Event. Events that were not predicted, and change the dynamic dramatically. What I mean by that, is that the shock waves from both disasters, could have drastic consequence. The price of oil will rise, and all the business and economies that depend upon the stability of Japan will be negatively impacted. If Hawaii and the West Coast of the US are hit, that could have consequence as well. I will further update this post as events unfold and we will see how it goes…. –Matt

Update: 03/12/2011- Now the latest deal is the Nuclear Facilities in Japan are in dire straights. If they melt down, the fallout is of concern.  In the comments section, I have put up an article that discusses the fallout potential, and especially how it would impact North America via the Pacific Jet Stream.

Major Earthquake, Tsunami Hit Japan

Saudi police open fire at protest

Oil Rises in New York as Libyan Violence Intensifies, Refinery is Bombed

Major Earthquake, Tsunami Hit Japan

March 11, 2011

A massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake has struck off Japan’s northeastern coast, triggering a four meter tsunami that washed away cars along parts of the coastline.Video from national broadcaster NHK showed dozens of cars, large ferries and some buildings being swept out to sea in the port city of Kamaishi in the province of Iwate.The Japanese Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warming for the entire Pacific coast of Japan following the quake that struck about 125 kilometers off the eastern coast, at a depth of 10 kilometers.  Residents in the coastal areas have been urged to immediately evacuate to higher ground.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in the U.S. state of Hawaii said a tsunami warning was also in effect for Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas.  It said a tsunami watch was issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Hawaii.

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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Paracargo: The On-again, Off-again Saga Of Airdrops In Haiti

    Only in a military briefing like this, where in one breath they say that air drops are unacceptable because of a lack of security, yet in the next breath, the idea of parachuting soldiers in to provide that security was out of the question. Or they say that parachuting in would have sent the wrong message?  Sooooo thousands of troops pouring in by airport or by ship sends a better message?

   I don’t know folks.  I think as soon as we said we were going to help, and do everything in our power to help, airdrops and securing those drop zones for such a thing, should have been considered.  Wrong message or not, air drops send the right message of ‘doing all we can to help’.  It would have also put tools in the hands of the people, along with food and water, to hold them over until the main effort gets under way.

   At least they dropped what they did, but how many days were wasted until they finally came to this logical conclusion? In the fire services, I would have been fired (if that is even possible in the federal government) for such a poor initial attack response. That, and an investigation. –Matt

——————————————————————

DOD Background Briefing with Senior Military Officials from the Pentagon About Haiti Operations

Presenter: Senior Military Officials

January 20, 2010

(airdrops and parachuting in troops section)

Q     Could you explain this on-again, off-again story of air drops: first it was no way, then there was an air drop, then another — more were scheduled for today and, as I understand, they didn’t happen. So what’s going on with air drops?

SR. MILITARY OFFICIAL 1: Yeah, two things on that point, if I may. First off, air drops can be, obviously, very successful and very quick. And we know that yesterday they were both. They brought in over 15,000 meals and 15,000 liters of water.

     There are two requirements for air drops.  We just explained one, which is the actual availability of the aircraft. And sometimes you have to divert that aircraft to another mission, because in the — in the particular case — again, bringing 2/82 out of their home station, you know, either you bring the food and the water from there or you bring the people from there or you bring the trucks from there. So does that — that tradeoff about what gets on the aircraft is point number one.

     And then point number two is, you have to have a safe and secure area to drop the water and the food: either that there is — it’s a controlled area, that there are either U.S. forces, MINUSTAH forces or government of Haiti forces there that can actually supervise the area, and it doesn’t become a scene where people are injured, and instead of distributing food and water, it becomes just — you know, a calamity, because people are crawling in to get there. So you want to secure the area.

     With that amount of food and water, you need a big area. And in the aftermath of the quake, a lot of the displaced and the victims moved to the areas that we would have normally used for either LZs or PZs, and places where we would have distributed food and water or picked up people. And part of that would have been, for example, our embassy evacuation plan. So we had to make sure that the area we were going to drop the food and water in was, indeed, safe and secure.

Q     The — early on, was there ever any — and you may have just answered this — any consideration to jumping the 82nd itself in; they then set up — you know, you’re clear, you got a landing zone, and then vehicles and supplies come in?

SR. MILITARY OFFICIAL 1: I would have to, you know, defer to the commander on the ground out there. I don’t think at this — from my point of view right here, I don’t believe there was a conscious decision to do that, because we didn’t think that was a — the prudent thing to do. It was a —

Q     It wasn’t really considered?

SR. MILITARY OFFICIAL 1: No.  And it’s — and there’s also an issue of optics here, because we are there to assist and enable. This is not a jump into a combat zone; this is not a jump.

     So we’re there to assist and enable. It’s a peaceful nation. It’s a very dramatic and, as General Keen said, epic proportions, the disaster there. And we’re there to get there quickly and to help. And to parachute in or to drop in, it was not required and would have probably sent the wrong message.

Q     Did you say there will be more airdrops that you’re planning?

SR. MILITARY OFFICIAL 1: Yeah. That is on the horizon. We’re always looking at the opportunity to do that. Right now the aircraft for today are filled, and we’re looking at moving cargo and personnel and drugs. But, you know, when we get that request, those are decisions that General Fraser and General Keen will make about the appropriate time and place to do that.

Link to briefing here.

 

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Jobs: Unarmed Security for Disaster Relief, Texas

Triple Canopy

 

Security Guard

Operational/Corp Intermittent Employee

Location                         Texas

Department                 Operations

Position Schedule Intermittent Employee

   

Job Description

Location     

Texas

 

Reports To     

Project Manager

 

Position Summary

Contingent upon contract award. Unarmed guard for disaster relief. Approximate length of contract is 30 days.

 

Position Responsibilities

•Unarmed security in support of disaster relief

 

Essential Skills and Experience

•US Citizen

•Honorable discharge from the military (if applicable)

•Four years military and/or law enforcement experience

•Force Protection experience

•Must have no felony or domestic violence conviction. Record of recent recurring misdemeanors may adversely impact candidate’s suitability rating

•Employment with Triple Canopy is contingent upon a favorable background check

 

Physical Demands and Work Environment

Able to perform unarmed security guard services with limited support.

 

General 

Must adhere to and support company polices, procedures and standards. Triple Canopy, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer

 

Apply Here

 

Disaster Response: Update on Hurricane Ike, By Doug

Filed under: Disaster Response,Texas — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 8:34 AM

 

Update on Hurricane Ike and the Texas disaster response.

By Doug

 

Many of my friends & their familes are involved in rebuilding houstons infrastructure.

Things are still bad in places. lots of folks still crapping in buckets & sitting around candles at night.

Things are improving rapidly.  everyone is very optimistic 60% of houston will be electrified by thursday night.

Power crews working night and day. 

The water has just been announced that it is clean to drink from the tap.

Gas is a problem though.  most gas lines are still long, but it is a lot better than yesterday.

So its good to hear that even though it is still bad. things are improving rapidly.

Give it 2-3 more weeks and most things will be back to almost normal.

Though it will take months to clean up all the debris

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