Twenty-one helicopters have been flying around the clock from the US aircraft carrier Washington in Leyte Gulf of the Philippines since 16 to Tacloban and other flattened towns and villages that were hardest hit by Typhoon Haiyan. The Global Times reporter arrived in Cebu on the 17th and had a close experience of the US military's unique practice of practicing combat capabilities in disaster relief.

In the hardest hit Tacloban airport, the US military's C-130 transport plane or MV-22 tilting rotary-wing aircraft took off or landed in twin formations every half an hour. They are busily unloading supplies and loading victims to Manila or Cebu. Remarkably, although the command system at Tacloban Airport, which was badly damaged in the typhoon, has been partially restored, the U.S. military is not relying on it. Instead, it has set up its own air traffic control system and has taken over most of the airport, confining Philippine Air Force and other foreign relief aircraft to a small space. "Global Times" reporter from the US embassy in the Philippines officials learned that as of 16, a total of 10 US military C-130 transport aircraft and 8 MV-22 into the disaster relief operation, they have flown 186 sorties, to the disaster area to transport 174,000 tons of urgently needed supplies and 1,200 US military disaster relief personnel, At the same time, 2,800 Filipinos and 109 US citizens were transported.

According to the Global Times reporter learned from an exclusive channel, the 1,200 US Marines who arrived in the disaster area earlier and the upcoming 1,000 Marines belong to the 3rd Expeditionary Brigade of the US Pacific Marine Command based in Okinawa, Japan. They are equipped with landing craft, hovercraft, amphibious vehicles, small boats, carrying bulldozers, generators, drilling machines, portable water tanks and other equipment, the task of opening up the main road to the hard-hit areas and liaizing remote villages.

As the British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced the dispatch of the British aircraft carrier to the disaster area, plus the military disaster relief detachments arrived in Israel, Canada, Australia, Malaysia and other countries, there are as many as 10 troops in the disaster area. "Global Times" reporter learned that although the disaster relief military nominally "serves the Philippine government", but in fact it is by the United States military to take up the "lead command" role: most of the troops to the disaster area under the United States, weave a unified "disaster area joint action network". "All this is just like our annual 'Kra' exercise plan," explained the US Marine Corps Pacific Command. The Global Times reporter learned during an interview in Cebu on Monday that the commander of the US Pacific Headquarters has designated Lieutenant General John Weisler, commander of the US Marine Corps Pacific, as commander of Joint Task Force 505, responsible for the movement and equipment coordination of all US troops dispatched to the disaster areas in the Philippines. However, it is worth noting that the Japanese Self-Defense Force, which has been known as the "most iron Pacific ally" of the United States, announced the dispatch of 1,000 Self-Defense troops to the disaster area, although it agreed to the "action coordination" between the two militaries, and even sent a "liaison and coordination officer" within the US military, but the Japanese Self-Defense Force did not accept the "US command" requirement. Hoping to maintain the "independence" of the Self-Defense forces in disaster relief. At the same time, a large number of Japanese media flocked to the disaster areas of the Philippines to cover the upcoming arrival of the Self-Defense Force's "largest overseas operation since the war."

Facing the flood of foreign troops, the mood of the disaster victims is eager. "I heard there were a lot of American planes coming," said Tacloban evacuee Meri Arentina, 28. "I had to go to the airport because I had eaten two meals in as many days and lived on rain water caught in plastic bags." Arita Nabila, 81, screamed: "Where are the Americans? Will they bring us rice? I haven't had food or medicine for days." At Tacloban's only hospital, which has no roof or water or electricity, one woman desperately relied on her hand to help her badly amputated husband breathe. "It's all said the Americans are coming, how can we not feel it?" said Gamba, the hospital director, eagerly.

Plastic Industry Video