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JECC members deploy to support Pakistan humanitarian assistance

USJFCOM’s Joint Enabling Capabilities Command  has deployed personnel to support disaster relief efforts following torrential rains and flooding in Pakistan.

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By Whitney Williams
Joint Enabling Capabilities Command

(SUFFOLK, Va.  – Aug. 13, 2010) –- Personnel from U.S. Joint Forces Command’s (USJFCOM) Joint Enabling Capabilities Command (JECC) deployed to support relief efforts in Pakistan following massive flooding there.

Twenty-eight members from each of the JECC’s seven joint enabling capabilities will  support the Office of the Defense Representative-Pakistan (ODR-P).   The JECC’s Joint Deployable Team, the Joint Communications Support Element (JCSE), the Joint Public Affairs Support Element, and the Intelligence-Quick Reaction Team will bring critical  skills to humanitarian assistance efforts underway.  The Joint Deployable Team includes operations, planning, knowledge management and information superiority, and logistics specialists.

JECC  routinely deploys teams to assist in disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and other contingency operations.   These teams  are configured to fill operational gaps and provide immediate, short-duration support until permanent forces arrive.   

Navy Rear Adm. Walter E. Carter Jr., JECC commander, explained how  the team will contribute to the flood relief efforts in Pakistan.

“This is an important mission for us, especially because of our ability to deliver a tailored team of experts that can move quickly and responsibly to provide the skill sets that are in high demand during these types of disaster relief operations,” he said.

A small team of JCSE members deployed last week from a forward location in the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of operations, but the rest of the team  deploys today.

In the past 12 months, the JECC has deployed more than 150 members to support:

• Operation Continuing Promise, a humanitarian assistance mission in Central and South America
• Operation Deepwater Horizon, a  disaster relief effort on the Gulf Coast
• Operation Unified Response/Joint Task Force-Haiti, a disaster relief and humanitarian assistance operation in Port Au Prince, Haiti
• The establishment of Joint Task Force-435, which directs detainee operations  in Afghanistan
• The establishment of the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, a three-star command that oversees the day-to-day operations of coalition forces in Afghanistan

 The JECC also deploys rotating groups of more than 70 members to support ongoing operations in USCENTCOM area of responsibility.

The JECC team’s  assistance in Pakistan is part of a larger DOD effort led by the ODR-P in support of the U.S. Agency for International Development,   which is coordinating U.S. relief in Pakistan.