Effectiveness of foreign humanitarian assistance operations.

The U.S. military conducts foreign humanitarian assistance in accordance with Title 10 authority to promote: (1) the security interests of both the United States and the country in which the activities are to be carried out; and (2) the specific operational readiness skills of the members of the armed forces who participate in the activities. These are not the only benefits to humanitarian assistance operations such as foreign disaster relief. Foreign disaster relief is a subset of foreign humanitarian assistance and the U.S. military has conducted numerous such operations in recent years. Increases in population density will bring about further risk to natural disasters and a potential increase to the need for foreign humanitarian assistance. In an era of budget constraints, Department of Defense activities are under increasing scrutiny to demonstrate the effectiveness of activities and money spent. This study investigates the lasting contribution to bilateral partnership from the conduct of U.S. military humanitarian assistance, to include disaster relief. This is done through the study of two natural disasters in the Western Pacific and the resulting U.S. military response effort. Emphasis is placed on the bilateral cooperation and public opinion of the United States.