By 2^nd Lt. Victoria Brayton, JFSOCC Public Affairs

The U.S. military is taking on a supporting role in the humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti, facilitating the responses of many international humanitarian relief organizations.

Acting on the request for assistance from the government of Haiti, the Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center is working to prioritize and coordinate the responses from many different agencies to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.

Building relationships with organizations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is the lead federal agency for the Haiti relief efforts, the World Food Program, the State Department and other international agencies is key to the HACC’s success, said Lt. Col. J.T. Stevens, officer in charge of the HACC.

Stateside, Lt. Col. Stevens is the battalion commander of the 98^th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne), which falls under the 95^th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne) and under the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

“We’re focused on the ‘Whole of Government’ approach,” Stevens said. “We are more effective when we work hand-in-hand with partner agencies like USAID and the State Department. Our goal is to facilitate and support the international humanitarian community.”

The Joint Task Force-Haiti HACC is comprised of members representing all services. These service members have extensive training in language and cultural awareness that accelerates the delivery of aid from the other agencies.

“What our soldiers are capable of is extraordinary and we want the other agencies to see our value so we can support them with whatever they need, be it logistics, security or transportation when they’re out distributing aid,” Stevens said.

“We want to demonstrate that the sole intent of our military presence on the ground is to assist with our resources to meet the urgent needs of the people and government of Haiti.”