WITH MARINES IN OPERATION PROVIDE COMFORT                             31


    Food will be distributed ONE time
    each week.
    Bring this card with you each week
    to receive your FOOD RATIONS.

                                     o~~ 0)0

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                              ~~~                 ~       ~ Jj~


Kurdish families were issued ration cards when they registered at one of the three refugee camps
in the Zakho area. Food supplies were originally U.S. "Meals Ready to Eat" combat rntions, but
these were quickly replaced by bulk foods more suited to Kurdish tastes.

system, but as time passed this procedure became more complex and later took
up to eight days for goods and equipment to pass through customs. Supplies were
then either rigged for airdrop, palletized for helicopter transport, or loaded onto
trucks for the trip forward. Similar procedures were used at Mersin and
Iskenderun. Sea-land containers were unloaded, opened, their contents inspected,
the goods were separated and packaged, then loaded onto trucks or trains for
movement forward.
   The second phase was movement of relief supplies and personnel from their
port of entry to a forward humanitarian service support base. At first, there were
two, HSSB-1 (Silopi) and HSSB-2 (Yuksekova). Later HSSB-3 was opened at
Sirsenk, Iraq. Sirsenk quickly replaced Yuksekova when the refugees left their
mountain camps and moved south. At the HSSBs, every attempt was made to
expedite the movement of supplies forward to the humanitarian service support
detachn~ents (HSSDs). At the HSSBs, trucks were directed forward after the
drivers made only brief stops for food and fuel. If necessary, supplies were
divided into truck-transportable and air transportable-loads. A two-day supply
reserve was maintained at each HSSB. Other supplies were sent forward as
quickly as possible.
   The final rung on the supply ladder was distribution. A typical HSSD
included a command element, a helicopter support team, an engineer support
team, civil affairs representatives, and a communications section. These teams,
usually about a dozen people, occupied one or two tents near the landing zone.