CAMP ZAMA, JAPAN – On March 11, a 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Honshu damaged buildings and triggered a tsunami along the east coast of Japan. The Japan District commander, with Japanese citizens making up nearly 60 percent of his workforce, had many things on his mind during the rumbling at about 2:46 pm.
“I thought, ‘Is this a normal tremor? Obviously, this is not a normal tremor! I hope our people and facilities are okay,’” said Col. Bryan Truesdell as he recalled his thoughts during the earthquake.
He soon learned that his command had just experienced what the Japanese call the “Great East Japan Earthquake.” But the earthquake was only the beginning. When a tsunami hit minutes following the ‘quake, the district began 24-hour operations and prepared to render support when and where requested. Truesdell was already considering how the district could help the Japanese and American armed forces in Japan.
In the immediate aftermath, U.S. Forces, Japan (USFJ) established a 24-hour crisis action team to assess the U.S. military capabilities and assets available to support the Government of Japan and the Japan Self-Defense Forces. As part of Operation Tomodachi (translation -- Operation Friendship), Pacific Ocean Division (POD) and Japan District are working closely with military commanders in Japan to provide critical engineering support.
In addition to activating the district’s Emergency Operations Center, Truesdell advised U.S. Army, Japan (USARJ) and dispatched Army Capt. Alex Glade, an experienced Forward Engineer Support Team (FEST) leader, to augment the USARJ Disaster Assessment Team (DAT) near Sendai, one of the areas most devastated by the tsunami.
Glade’s expertise yielded results soon after her arrival March 14. Glade and the DAT integrated into the forward element of USFJ and assessed the Sendai airport to determine the feasibility of clearing enough space for fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.
Based on their recommendation, the site became a hub for C-130 and C-17 transport aircraft providing support to those affected by the disaster. Soon a forward delivery base was established at Sendai, and the first delivery of immediate survival provisions (water and blankets) arrived. The team worked with local police and emergency officials to assess and care for casualties and recover remains.
USACE also assisted USARJ in the mission to deliver 50,000 water bottles to two locations.
Additional debris was removed at Sendai to expand the airport’s capabilities. Capt. Jason Webb, a FEST leader from Japan District, provided relief-in-place for Glade on March 26.
The district operations tempo quickened and Truesdell tapped expertise from throughout the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to increase support to Operation Tomodachi. Support came in the form of additional personnel and expertise to man 24-hour operations and advise on engineer topics, including three team members deployed to Japan District, one from POD and two from POF to support emergency operations and liaison officer operations.
“What was already an exceptional team of experts became stronger as events unfolded, and the support from throughout USACE was phenomenal,” Truesdell said.
Communication was the key as the district aided USFJ and the service components. In addition to monitoring relief activity, district leadership focused on personnel accountability, and on the Fukushima nuclear power plant damaged during the earthquake and tsunami.
To aid communication, POD augmented Japan District with special equipment.
“We provided additional tele-engineering kits to enable satellite communication,” said Andrew Benzinger, the POD chief of emergency management. “This is the same hardware that field force engineering teams use for secure telephone, data and video conferencing in areas where there is normally no connectivity.”
The district also prepared for an authorized voluntary departure of personnel from Honshu. USACE military members and DoD civilians were required to remain to continue the Corps’ normal missions in Japan, and USACE support to Operation Tomodachi, but family members were given the option to voluntarily depart. A total of 29 family members and ten employees departed on their own. As of April 25 36 of 39 individuals had returned.
The Department of State lifted Voluntary Authorized Departure April 14, allowing dependents of U.S. government employees to return to Japan.