The expanding search for a missing Malaysian passenger plane has provided the Pentagon with an opportunity to showcase its Pacific presence in a region where its planned expansion has been stymied by shrinking budgets and pushback from China.
Having dedicated sophisticated Navy ships and aircraft to the search, the U.S. military is casting itself as a benign actor capable of working cooperatively with Beijing in a part of the world where it is attempting to strengthen alliances and put its rival on notice.
Sailors aboard the USS Kidd, a destroyer that had been conducting a security mission in the South China Sea, were excited to get pulled into the search last week.
"The crew bought into this mission right from the start," Cmdr. T.J. Zerr, the ship's executive officer, said in a phone interview Sunday night. "For all of us onboard, if one of our family members were on that plane, we would hope that anyone with the capabilities of our ships and aircraft would give anything they have to find it. That's the spirit we've gone into this mission with."
Sailors onboard the Kidd, which is currently surveying stretches of the Indian Ocean, have been working long hours searching for debris from the plane from the deck of the boat as well as the vantage point of its high-tech scanning devices and helicopters.
U.S. sailors have spotted suspected plane debris daily over the past week in the busy maritime corridor, which is heavily transited by fishermen and commercial vessels, Zerr said. A large yellow item that had seemed like a promising lead turned out to be a tarp, likely left behind by a fisherman, Zerr said. Buoys have also raised false alarms.
The search for Malaysian Airlines 370, which is being led by the Malaysian government, currently involves more than two dozen nations, including China, which had 154 citizens onboard. Zerr said Malaysian officials have done a decent job of directing the search teams, which have been at the mercy of an investigation riddled with conflicting clues and sinister theories.
"Without a well-positioned area for a search, it's a challenge," said Zerr.
But his team has been relentless, the commander noted. Sailors who normally are not required to perform deck observation duties have been volunteering for the assignments and the crew is logging fewer hours of sleep than usual.
"We'll get rest when we can," he said. "We're all committed to this."
Besides the USS Kidd, the Navy has contributed the USS Pinckney and a long-range maritime patrol aircraft.
The missing airliner is the second recent crisis that has given the U.S. military an opportunity to demonstrate its rescue and relief capabilities in the Pacific. The U.S. deployed aircraft and ships to assist victims of the November 2013 typhoon in the Philippines.
The Obama administration unveiled its strategy to "pivot" or rebalance its military and diplomatic efforts toward Asia in 2011, in an effort to foment stronger ties with several growing economies in the region. A bigger American role in Asia is also widely seen as a response to China's accelerated military growth and a deterrent to North Korea's nuclear arsenal.
U.S. officials have struggled to realize their vision for the Asia pivot due to budget constraints and a flurry of crises in the Middle East and North Africa that have often relegated the Pacific region to an afterthought. Kristina McFarland, a top Pentagon official who oversees acquisition, said earlier this month during a conference that as a result of tighter budgets, the "pivot is being looked at again, because, candidly, it can't happen."
The Pentagon later sought to downplay that assertion, saying that the strategy remains on course and will succeed even in an era of fiscal austerity.
Zerr, the second in command of the USS Kidd, said that military relationships the Navy has fostered in recent years have been crucial to close coordination during the search.
"When something like this happens, maritime nations band together and figure out how to make things happen," he said. -- The Washington Post
Ernesto Londono
Wed Mar 19 2014
AWANI Ringkas: Pembentangan Belanjawan 2025
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
#AWANIRingkas 18 Oktober 2024 | 9 PM
Berikut merupakan rangkuman berita setakat 9 malam, 18 Oktober 2024
1️⃣ Pembentangan Belanjawan 2025
2️⃣ Sektor pendidikan
3️⃣ Sektor kesihatan
#awaniringkas
1️⃣ Pembentangan Belanjawan 2025
2️⃣ Sektor pendidikan
3️⃣ Sektor kesihatan
#awaniringkas
Belanjawan 2025: Peruntukan AI dinaikkan sebanyak RM50 juta
Kerajaan komited memperluaskan pendidikan berkaitan Kecerdasan Buatan (AI) ke semua universiti penyelidikan dengan peruntukan RM50 juta, berbanding RM20 juta tahun ini.
Latihan regata bertukar tragedi, lima peserta dikhuatiri lemas
Insiden melibatkan 15 peserta menggunakan satu bot untuk latihan regata. 10 individu berjaya selamatkan diri manakala lima yang lain masih hilang.
UAE hantar tiga lagi pesawat bersama 120 tan bantuan untuk Lubnan
UAE setakat ini telah menghantar 12 pesawat yang membawa 515 tan bekalan bantuan.
Belanjawan 2025: Nak masuk Universiti? Ini cara kerajaan bantu anda
Belanjawan MADANI memperlihatkan komitmen Kerajaan dalam meningkatkan sektor pendidikan tinggi negara.
Belanjawan 2025 sedia platform menyeluruh hadapi cabaran tahun depan - Mohamad Hasan
Langkah-langkah dalam Belanjawan 2025 juga dilihat cuba mengimbangi keperluan rakyat terutama dalam mendepani isu kos sara hidup.
Jumlah kematian di Lubnan terus meningkat
Jumlah kematian akibat serangan udara Israel di Lubnan sejak tercetusnya konflik Israel-Hizbullah pada 8 Oktober 2023 meningkat kepada 2,412.
Lima hilang selepas perahu lumba karam
Wartawan AWANI Borneo, Fadillah Sulaiman bawakan laporan terkini insiden perahu lumba karam dan tenggelam berhampiran kawasan perindustrian Bintawa.
Kematian Yahya Sinwar tidak sesekali patahkan semangat Hamas
Kematian itu dilihat bakal mempupuk semangat yang menebal dalam kalangan mereka untuk terus memperjuangkan agenda pembebasan Palestin yang merdeka sekali gus menamatkan agenda kekejaman rejim Zionis
76 peratus penerbangan menepati waktu yang dijadualkan - Loke
Bagi penerbangan yang menghadapi kelewatan pula sejumlah 90.2 peratus telah ditangguhkan kurang daripada dua jam manakala baki penerbangan ditangguhkan melebihi dua jam.
Bukan hanya MAS pernah alami gangguan teknikal - Loke
Masalah sama pernah melanda Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines dan Thai Airlines namun beliau hairan mengapa hanya isu berkaitan MAS diperbesarkan.
Kerjasama antarabangsa penting demin keadilan untuk mangsa tragedi MH17 - Schoof
Kesan tragedi nahas MH17 amat besar dan begitu dirasai di Belanda meskipun sudah sedekad berlalu.
Hilang kata-kata terima berita nahas MH17 - Azharuddin
Ketika itu, Azharuddin ligat berfikir, apa harus diperkatakan kerana semua sudah tahu orang kesayangan mereka telah tiada.
Tragedi MH17: Kerajaan Australia ikrar akan terus mencari keadilan
Kerajaan Australia bertekad akan membawa mereka yang bertanggungjawab ke atas targedi MH17 itu ke muka keadilan.
Bangkai pesawat MH17 tanpa sayap imbau kekejaman tragedi menyayat hati
Keadaan serpihan pesawat MH17 Malaysia Airlines (MAS) yang cuba dibina semula tanpa sayap, tayar, ekor dan tempat duduk penumpang cukup menggerunkan sekali gus mengingatkan pada kekejaman yang meragut
Kembara, teroka dunia dengan kempen terbaharu Malaysia Airlines dan Firefly
Hadir merentas 21 pasaran hingga 22 Mei 2024, sama ada destinasi dekat mahupun jauh, sambar peluang untuk meneroka keindahan dunia dengan Hospitaliti Malaysia.
Kes Daim: SPRM panggil Tajudin Ramli, siasat transaksi MAS - Laporan
Tokoh perniagaan, Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli, dilaporkan dipanggil Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) bagi membantu siasatan berhubung transaksi syarikat penerbangan MAS.
Tiada campur tangan, 'entiti' atau kemelut dalaman - Hannah
Komunikasi antara atlet, jurulatih dan Persekutuan Renang Malaysia (MAS) perlu dipertingkatkan bagi mengelak isu kegagalan di Doha berulang.
Adakah satu tiket penerbangan hanya boleh digunakan satu telefon bimbit? - Ka Siong
Beliau berkongsi kisah seorang wanita cemas apabila bapanya tidak menaiki pesawat di lapangan terbang itu.