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Luck, Serendipity, and Longtime Relationships Fostered Success in Haiti Relief Efforts, Though Actual Performance Is Impossible to Measure Because Metrics and Plans Were Not in Place Before the Earthquake Hit

• U.S. Department of Defense policy on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief needs to be updated.
• The Joint Task Force-Haiti commander's informal approach to determining initial requirements and his liberal use of oral orders had people and resources assigned quickly, and U.S. military leaders had significant latitude to exercise initiative in directing response efforts.
• U.S. Southern Command lacked well-established plans for such a mission. The informal, top-down process that pushed resources to the effort quickly generated inefficiencies that might have impaired the operation's effectiveness, but a lack of established metrics prevented measuring performance.
• Specific circumstances may have worked to the advantage of Joint Task Force-Haiti (JTF-Haiti): U.S. Southern Command military deputy commander, LTG P. K. Keen, was in Haiti and at the U.S. ambassador's residence when the earthquake struck; the ambassador's residence withstood the earthquake, and the communication equipment there remained functional; General Keen was a longtime colleague of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti commander; the Global Response Force was available for rapid deployment to JTF-Haiti; the JTF-Haiti commander had a positive professional relationship with the XVIII Airborne Corps commander; and many service members assigned to JTF-Haiti had a high level of experience in civil affairs and other aspects of working with local citizens.