WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military conducting a major response to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
The first waves of support are in place, with two search-and-rescue teams on the ground, Coast Guard cutters in port, the U.S. Southern Command in control of the airport and airlifts under way.
More than 100 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division have arrived. They'll be followed by 800 more Friday. About 2,200 Marines also have been deployed.
But with a huge amount of U.S. help still on the way, the military is struggling to figure out how to manage with a badly damaged sea port and severely congested airport.
By Monday, as many as 5,500 U.S. infantry soldiers and Marines are scheduled to arrive.
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is expected in Haiti Friday, followed by other Navy ships. The hospital ship USNS Comfort is to arrive a week later.
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<<APPHOTO CARP102 (01/14/10)>>
: A forklift takes a load of relief supplies to be loaded aboard a Coast Guard C130, background, bound for Haiti at the Coast Guard Air Station, Sacramento, in North Highlands, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010. The aircraft loaded with food, medical supplies, water, power generators along with more than a dozen members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was sent to Haiti to help with the rescue efforts under way.
<<APPHOTO NY125 (01/12/10)>>
: In this Jan. 12, 2010 photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson departs from the Naval Station in Norfolk, Va. The USS Carl Vinson is expected to arrive off the coast of Haiti Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010 as part of a larger international effort overseen by the United Nations, whose peacekeeping operation headquarters was destroyed in the quake.
