Waves of Change: Evolution in the US Navy's Strategic Approach to Disaster Relief Operations between the 2004 and 2011 Asian Tsunamis.

The US military response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami had a powerful strategic influence on Indonesia, and led the US Navy to make far-reaching changes in its strategic approach to humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR) operations. These changes emerged because the positive benefits of military-delivered relief were so clearly demonstrated and the experiences validated specific concepts that have since guided the US Navy toward becoming a humanitarian partner. Current force structures were demonstrated to be adaptable to HA/DR, close cooperation with diverse partners was affirmed as a key element of successful maritime operations, and seabasing was shown as an operational construct exceptionally well suited for HA/DR. As a result of the changes, the naval response to the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011 took place in a very different strategic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]