Haiti relief: CF's Operation HESTIA/Upperdate: And now likely at least a battalion of, er, peacekeepers

Further to this post,

Haitian earthquake: Canadian Forces' assistance/"How you can help"

here is the website for the CF's mission from Canadian Expeditionary Force Command (CEFCOM)--excerpt:

...
The Humanitarian Operations Task Force

Commander: Brigadier-General Guy Laroche [the CF's commander at Kandahar some two and a half years ago]

The Humanitarian Operations Task Force (HOTF) deployed in Haiti under Operation HESTIA has a mandate to deliver a wide range of services in support of the Government of Haiti and the Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince.

The HOTF includes the following Canadian Forces assets:

• A Naval Task Group from Halifax, Nova Scotia, under the command of Captain (Navy) Art McDonald, comprising:
  • the destroyer HMCS Athabaskan (with a CH-124 Sea King helicopter detachment); and
  • the frigate HMCS Halifax;
• Two CH-146 Griffon helicopters;
• The lead element of the Canadian Forces Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART);
• An urban rescue and recovery team; and
• A Military Police detachment to support the Canadian Embassy.

The HOTF receives extensive support from 8 Wing Trenton, the home of transport squadrons flying the CC-130 Hercules tactical airlifter and the CC-177 Globemaster III strategic airlifter...

Photo:

Canadian Forces members board a CC-177 Globemaster III strategic airlifter at 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario on 14 January 2010. Canada has flown troops; supplies and members of civilian agencies in support of the relief efforts in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti after an earthquake struck the region 12 January 2010.
Photo : WO Carole Morissette

And from the Toronto Star:

...
Since Thursday, he [foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon said 272 Canada have been airlifted from Haiti by three separate Canadian Forces flights.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the Canadian Forces have already flown in rescue equipment, humanitarian supplies and RCMP and military police officers, with four more flights scheduled for today.

There are 144 military personnel now on the ground in Haiti, with more to come.

"The Canadian Forces have made good progress in establishing a footprint for staging search and rescue operations, relief efforts and aid delivery," MacKay said.

"Depending on air traffic at the Port-au-Prince airport our plan is to send another four flights to Haiti today." he said.

Those flights will carry more people from the military disaster response team as well as six G-wagons, which are armoured SUVs [not really very armoured].

The longer-term plan is to send two big C-17 transports in every day, with smaller C-130 Hercules aircraft making three flights every two days.

Two Canadian warships, HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Halifax are expected to arrive in four days or so, with additional relief equipment...

MacKay said that while Canadian soldiers' main focus will be to help and search for the injured, they will also be armed and providing security...

Another photo (accompanying a nice jeux d'esprit from Norman Spector's Globe and Mail blog):

(Photo: Soldiers guard a Canadian Forces plane upon its arrival in Port-au-Prince yesterday. Peter Power/The Globe and Mail)

Update with video:

Canadian navy bringing 'light engineering' aid to Haiti
...

Capt. Art McDonald, the Canadian Task Group Commander of both HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Halifax , said Friday that he expects to arrive in port on Tuesday, and to begin delivering help immediately.

He spoke to CTV's Canada AM from HMCS Athabaskan, which is carrying a Sea King helicopter.

"When we arrive we're going to bring some unique maritime capabilities, specifically we can offer Haiti the light engineering kind of work -- clearing roads and enabling critical infrastructure so aid can flow through," McDonald said...

Both ships departed Halifax harbour at 2 p.m. on Thursday after an incredible effort to prepare the ships almost overnight for what is expected to be a two-month deployment.

They were loaded with construction equipment such as chainsaws and concrete cutters, as well as food and supplies for more than 500 sailors who will be clearing rubble and removing bodies from collapsed buildings as part of their work.

Rather than delivering food or medical aid, the ships' crews will be focused on "light engineering" work that will allow other aid agencies to deliver their supplies to those who need it.

The Athabaskan was made sail-ready in just 24 hours after it was recalled to port following the earthquake. McDonald [said the turnaround was incredible.

"(Thursday) was a great day because we were able to get two Canadian ships with over 500 skilled sailors and all kinds of stuff out the door en route to Haiti," he said.

While still in port, the focus was on ensuring the ships would be prepared for any situation the crews might encounter in Haiti, McDonald said.

Now that they are en route the focus has shifted to planning and strategizing "so when we arrive on Tuesday we can have effect, we can start to make a difference in the lives of people in Haiti," McDonald said.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay saw the Athabaskan off on Thursday, saying the crews hit the ground running because "that's what the navy does."

Upperdate: The story immediately above at the CTV site has been revised with a new headline:

Canada to send 1,000 soldiers to Haiti

Canada plans to deploy 1,000 soldiers to Haiti to help in relief efforts, and two Canadian Forces ships are already rushing towards the quake-stricken country to deliver vital aid.

The soldiers will come from bases across the country, including [mainly one would think] CFB Valcartier in Quebec, CTV News has learned. An official announcement is expected sometime this weekend...

And all without, as far as I can see, any UN Security Council mandate or involvement, and not as part of, or under the command of, the existing UN force in Haiti. Almost an old school bit of military intervention, what? Let us see if see St. Steve Staples and others of that ilk (more on those usual suspects here) rail against such, er, neocolonial action.

Moreover, I'll bet you dollars to Timbits (non-Canadian readers look here) that this deployment is being very closely coordinated with the, gasp, Pentagon--short on francophone units as the US military is. More on the US military effort here and here. But '"We're not taking over Haiti," said P.J. Crowley, a State Department spokesman'.

See this very good post of Babbling's, just done, putting things in a wider CF view:

Stretching for Haiti