Pentagon Press Briefing with Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder - 03/12/24
Channel: Defense Now
Date: 2024-03-12

Today, the Department of Defense deployed four U.S. Army vessels from Joint Base Langley-Eustis to meet the eastern -- to the Eastern Mediterranean in support of humanitarian assistance operations in Gaza and the mission to build a temporary pier.

The U.S. Army Vessel SP4 James A. Loux, U.S. Army Vessel Monterrey, U.S. Army Vessel Matamoros, and U.S. Army Vessel Wilson Wharf from the 7th Transportation Brigade Expeditionary all departed earlier today, carrying the equipment and supplies needed to support this mission.

Once in theater, these vessels and their crews will establish a roll-on/roll-off pier capability that allows ship-to-shore humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. We expect the pier to be fully operational in approximately 60 days, which will be able to facilitate the delivery of up to two million meals daily.

Also on the humanitarian assistance front, this morning, U.S. Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted another combined airdrop into northern Gaza, where U.S. Air Force C-130s dropped over 5,280 pounds of food, including rice, flour, pasta, and canned food. 

Since March 2nd, U.S. Central Command has conducted eight humanitarian assistance airdrops into Gaza to provide essential relief to civilians affected by the ongoing conflict. C-130s and their air crews have dropped over 2,000 -- or 204,000 meals, 48,000 bottles of water, and more than 5,000 pounds of food items.

Separately, today, the Department of Defense announced additional security assistance via the presidential drawdown authority as an extraordinary measure to address some of Ukraine's most pressing security and defense needs.

This package is the 55th tranche of assistance and is valued at up to $300 million and includes capabilities to support Ukraine's immediate air defense, artillery, and anti-tank requirements. The capabilities in this announcement include Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, additional ammunition for HIMARS, 155 millimeter artillery rounds, including high-explosive and dual-purpose improved cluster munition rounds, 105 millimeter artillery rounds, AT4 anti-armor systems, additional rounds of small arms ammunition, demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing, spare parts, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment. 

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder briefs the news media at the Pentagon.
Scheduled from Mar 12 2024 2:30 PM EDT to Mar 12 2024 3:02 PM EDT

Defense Now March -  2024
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