United Nations official assists Airmen with Haiti operations Published Feb. 1, 2010 TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- A member of the United Nations World Food Programme arrived at Tyndall Air Force Base Jan. 24 to assist the Haiti Flight Operations Coordination Center officials with setting up humanitarian aviation response to the earthquake-ravaged nation. Overall command and control of the HFOCC falls to members of the 601st Air & Space Operations Center here. These Airmen are supporting Air Forces Southern and 12th Air Force, which are both headquartered at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. "I'm here at the request of the Department of Defense and at the request of the executive director of the World Food Programme, Josette Sheeran, to start the integration of a humanitarian arm in the Haiti Flight Operations Coordination Center," said Philippe Martou, the deputy chief of aviation services for the United Nations World Food Programme. Mr. Martou has responded to events around the world, from tsunamis to earthquakes to areas wracked with refugees fleeing political turmoil. Based on priorities established by the Haitian government officials, U.S. Agency for International Development and U.S. Southern Command officials, HFOCC members assign slot times to maximize the efficient use of the airport ramp in Port-au-Prince for all inbound and outbound air traffic. Since he was in post-earthquake Port-au-Prince when called to the HFOCC, he said he knew firsthand about the issues of having just one airport open with extremely limited ramp facilities. The main challenge there is accommodating the delivery of essential resources in a logistically overwhelmed environment, he said. "No one disaster resembles another," he said. "The main challenge in Haiti right now is the close proximity of a huge number on beneficiaries tightly grouped in one area with only one operational airport, limited port access and widespread road impassibility, and it's all happening on an island. "As always when you go through a catastrophe, there is immediately a chaos phase, not only at points of entry like ports, roads and airports, but also for the people as well, and not only the native population, but also the entire population involved with the effort to include those coming in to help. There is a lot of suffering all around," he said. Working with the WFP since 2001, Mr. Martou said the initial and immediate response to such suffering is addressing all aspects of humanitarian concerns, food, water, shelter, medical care and security. "Because it was only an air response the first few days, the congestion had planes in holding patterns for four to five hours," he said. "But through the outstanding efforts of the HFOCC, time has been reduced from one hour to straight through touch down." When he arrived at Tyndall AFB, Mr. Martou, a veteran C-130 pilot in the Belgian air force, said he was impressed with what he saw. "This HFOCC is very organized and manned by highly trained professionals, it's very well done," he said. The HFOCC uses a "slot" system to configure air flow, assigning aircraft a specific time to land, offload and take off. The system starts with a phone call from a client to get the process started, Mr. Martou said. However, the phones never actually get to ring, because the lines are so crammed with callers, Mr. Martou said. The phone system is used by DOD, the government of Haiti and other international and nongovernment organization officials, all scrambling to get the much-needed aid to recipients. There is currently a Web-based system being developed to help alleviate this congestion, he added. From a phone call, the client's request goes to the planning phase where the particular flight requirements are scheduled to move into the execution and reporting phases. The ultimate goal is to "remove ourselves from working on behalf of the Haitian government and hand the slot allocation process over to them," he said. Mr. Martou said he sees continuing emergency relief aid combined with a stabilization phase for the future - establishing more accessible routes and beginning vital reconstruction.