Operation Tomodachi - Doing Our Utmost to Help a Friend in Need: Navy Lawyers Support U.S. Relief Operations in Response to the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
Navy Jag Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 6-10, Fall 2011
5 Pages Posted: 18 Jul 2012
Date Written: July 17, 2012
Abstract
On March 11, 2011, Japan suffered a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, one of the worst in a century. The earthquake triggered destructive tsunami waves of more than 30 feet that struck the coastal areas of Northeast Japan, in some cases traveling up to six miles inland. The tsunami damaged the Fukushima civilian nuclear power plant, crippling its primary and secondary electrical systems, and severely damaging its critical cooling capability. Within hours, the U.S. military initiated crisis response actions in support of the Japanese government in an operation the allies called 'Tomodachi,' the Japanese word for friend. U.S. military units conducted search and rescue operations and transported emergency response teams, equipment and relief supplies to hundreds of thousands of displaced people in affected remote Japanese communities, and provided emergent medical care to injured people. In the days thereafter, other forms of U.S. military support followed to assist the Government of Japan and other relief agencies with a variety of highly-trained support personnel for humanitarian assistance operations.
Throughout Operation Tomodachi, U.S. forces followed three lines of operation: Foreign humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, Foreign consequence management, Voluntary departure and planning of the potential ordered departure of DoD personnel, their dependents, American citizens and designated foreign nationals. Each of these lines of operation generated its own sets of legal challenges and solutions.
Keywords: humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, consequence management, fiscal law, Operation Tomodachi, Japan
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