As part of Operation Unified Response, the U.S. military has moved food, water, medical supplies, and medically evacuated injured citizens and transported military personnel throughout Haiti to meet the humanitarian needs in cities all around the country. Stories of these resupply missions, aid distributions and heroic medical feats have touched the hearts of people around the world ever since the devastating earthquake hit Port-au-Prince Jan.

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, Feb. 22, 2010 – Eliminating foreign terrorists and their safe havens in the southern Philippines is the No. 1 priority of U.S. forces deployed here, said Army Col. Bill Coultrup, the region’s top U.S. military officer. Unlike counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. troops here work strictly in a supporting role to the Filipino armed forces and are not permitted to participate in kinetic operations, the commander of Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines said in a Feb.

Citizens living in a sprawling tent city in north Port-au-Prince were visited by members of a U.S. Special Operations civil affairs team Feb.

U.S. service members and supporting contractors from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Joint Test and Evaluation (JT&E) Program selected the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P) as the location for a 30-day field test of newly developed civil information management procedures Jan. 15-Feb. 15. The Joint Test (JT) began at Camp Navarro in Zamboanga, Philippines.

When Maj. Andrew Morgan came to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), he already knew the value of ultrasound machines from being an emergency physician at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg. He brought that knowledge with him to the group in the summer of 2007 when he became the battalion surgeon for 1st Battalion, 3rd SFG, and he quickly pushed to have more ultrasound machines at his unit. He and his staff realized a deficiency in the arena of medical imaging after they reviewed the medical capabilities of the battalion's Special Forces operational detachment alpha teams.

Members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Marine Battalion Landing Team-3-with assistance from Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines-treated 135 patients and 31 farm animals in Barangay (community) Asin, located in the Panamao municipality Jan.

Members of Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines taught more than 40 officers from the Philippine National Police techniques for identifying homemade bombs in Zamboanga del Norte province Dec. 22-23. Law enforcement in Zamboanga regularly comes across suspected IEDs and often have to investigate individuals accused of making homemade bombs, making this training imperative to perform their duties. "The purpose of the class was to teach the bomb squads what to look for when searching a property of someone who is suspected of making explosives.

Twenty members of Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines spent a special holiday evening visiting children at the Social Development Center in Zamboanga City Dec. 23. "It made me feel really good to give my time and spent time with the kids. I was excited about it and could tell they were excited to see us," said U.S. Navy Aerographer's Mate 1st Class (AW/SW) Christopher Cross. Founded in 1994, the center serves as a residential facility for children who are abandoned, neglected, orphaned, or abused.

Hundreds of residents of Barangay (community) Danag now have a restored shrine and access to free medical care due to the collaborative efforts of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Marine Battalion Landing Team-5 (MBLT-5), Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines and local residents who partnered for both projects in the region Nov. 28. Restoration of the stone shrine is a tribute to AFP Brig. Gen. Teodulfo Bautista and his 34 men who were killed Oct. 10, 1977 in the Patikul municipality while attempting to conduct peace talks with Usman Sali.