{{no footnotes, date=December 2016 Joint

Task Force A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many ...

Katrina was a joint operation between the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

and the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

created on September 1, 2005, at

Camp Shelby Camp Shelby is a U.S. Army post whose south gate is located at the southern boundary of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, along U.S. Highway 49. It was originally established during World War I, and has served almost continuously since then as a trai ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

to organize

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

efforts along the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

in the aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. The operation was headed by U.S. Army

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Russel L. Honoré. Joint Task Force Katrina took over operations from

United States Northern Command The United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) is one of eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense. The command is tasked with providing military support for Civil authority, non-military authorities in t ...

that had some elements in place before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. Included in this was a joint mission of USAF Reserve Security Forces personnel at

Kelly Air Force Base Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. I ...

, San Antonio, Texas. Their mission was to protect Air Force resources and personnel if the displaced persons being housed in shelters at Kelly AFB were to cause a civil disturbance.

History

JTF Katrina was established the day after Hurricane Katrina finished its path through the Gulf coast. It was established on September 1, 2005, to coordinate the Department of Defense (DOD) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) relief plans for the areas effected by Hurricane Katrina. At its creation Joint Task Force Katrina had about 7,000 National Guardsmen in Mississippi, 10,000 in Alabama, 6,500 in Louisiana, and 8,200 in Florida ready for duty. These troops had originally been put in place by Northern Command. First actions taken were flying helicopters for medical- evacuations that were started on September 1. The aircraft for these operations came from across the United States. Some came from as far as California to help in the relief effort. Pilots of these aircraft orders ranged from flying along the coastline looking for survivors and transporting food, water, and medical supplies to all of the refuge camps across the Gulf. Numerous Naval ships were sent to assist in the aid of the Gulf. for instance the Iwo Jima amphibious Readiness Group sailed from Virginia which consisted of the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), USS Shreveport (LPD-12), USS Tortuga (LSD-46) and USNS Arctic (T-AOE-8). The ships were loaded with disaster response equipment which went to Louisiana. In addition, the USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) came from Maryland to give medical supplies to the relief effort. The USS Grapple (ARS 53) also was called in to do underwater salvaging of flooded areas throughout the Gulf coast. Multiple working staging areas were set up on multiple air force bases that included Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi; Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana; Alexandria, Louisiana; and Fort Polk, Louisiana. These were set up to speed up movement of supplies and soldiers to get to needed areas. Joint Task Force Katrina eventually was relocated from Camp Shelby to the Iwo Jima that was in port in New Orleans. The United States Military also had 355 helicopters and 93 planes to the relief effort. Not including the 63,000 Active Soldiers that were also contributing to the cause.

External links

Association of the United States Army: Joint Task Force Katrina begins setting up at Camp Shelby, Mississippi

CNO Visits Iwo Jima
- Joint Task Force Gulf Coast
Army Support During the Hurricane Katrina Disaster

Northern Command To THE Rescue

Navy piloy says 'a lot of people' still trapped: Chicago Tribune

The Evacuation and The Recriminations: The Washington Post
Hurricane Katrina disaster relief Joint task forces of the United States Armed Forces Camp Shelby