30                          hUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS IN NORTIlERN IRAQ, 1991:

    The following day, 16 April, most of the squadron moved to Silopi. Three
CH-53s, nine Cll-46s, and two Ull-is arrived at approximately 1500 in the
afternoon. They used the newly installed HERS to refuel, then immediately
launched a supply run to the distant mountain camps. The FARP site was manned
by eight Marines from MWSS-272 (Corporal Charles 0. Trainor) and a 45-man
Shore Party Platoon, MSSG-24 (First Lieutenant Chris A. Arantz) worked the
loading zone. The first day the FARP refueled 319 helicopters, then settled down
to an average of about 220 per day, distributing about 55,000 gallons of fuel
each day. The fuel bladders on the ground were pumped full of gas at the rate
of 2,600 gallons per minute from military and civilian fuel trucks. Silopi was
beginning its transition from an unimproved landing zone to a major support
base.33
    For the next few days HMM-264 devoted its air assets to Joint Task Force
Alpha. Many Kurdish camps couldn't be read~ed by truck, so the Marines loaded
more than 100 tons of supplies per day on the helicopters. The squadron usually
flew from sunrise to sunset. Between 15 and 18 April HMM-264 delivered 137
tons of relief supplies to the Kurdish refugees. On one day 170,000 pounds of
food were delivered. On several different days, HMM-264 logged more than 90
flight hours. During the first two weeks the squadron delivered more than one
million pounds of relief supplies and flew more than 1,000 accident-free flight
hours. Distribution operations were turned over to the Kurds as soon as possible
to encourage them to help themselves. However, the rapid pace of events made
it very clear that the entire MEU would soon be required on shore.34

                     Humanitarian Service Support
                         Concept of Operations

    Logistics planning for Provide Comfort was kept fairly simple. There were
three overlapping phases. At first, the military handled the movement of all
supplies. Emergency support was delivered directly to refugee camps in Turkey
and Iraq by airdrop or helicopter. As the distribution system developed, civilian
agencies assumed responsibility for operation of il~e camps, while the military
provided security and some logistics support. By the time Combined Task Force
Provide Comfort departed, all supply and security missions in northern Iraq were
handled by civilian agencies or the United Nations. As the Kurds began to move
south, a series of way stations along major travel arteries were established in
northern Iraq. Inside the exclusion zone temporary resettlement camps were built
with the intention of turning them over to civilian agencies as quickly as
        possible.3~
    A supply "ladder" was established with three "rungs': reception, movement,
and distribution. There were three main supply and personnel delivery points in
Turkey. Incirlik was the aerial entry port. Mersin and Iskenderun were the sea
entry ports. A three-day supply reserve was established at each entry site.
Aircraft landing at Incirlik were quickly unloaded. All arriving goods were
inspected by customs officials. At first the Turks used an expedited inspection