[Victoria]: Request to the United States [SEC=OFFICIAL]

[Owen]

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PREMIER OF VICTORIA​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: OFFICIAL​

8 February 2009

Dear Acting Secretary of Agriculture, I am writing to you to request assistance after the recent Bushfire catastrophe hit my state of Victoria. We understand that the United States Forest Service has capabilities and expertise when it comes to fighting wildland fires. Country Fire Authority and Forest Fire Management Victoria are currently under immense strain and fatigue from fighting these fires over the past few days and as the work continues to contain and extinguish these fires we are asking for assistance from the United States at this time. Yours sincerely, Jacinta Allan.

1 Treasury Place, EAST MELBOURNE, VIC 3000 Telephone: (03) 9651 5111​

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

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OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE​

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ENCRYPTED MESSAGE​

TO: Jacinta Allan, Premier of Victoria ( Owen )

FROM: George Bosworth, Chief of the United States Forest Service

Premier Allan,

The extraordinary events occurring in Australia, most especially in Victoria, are cause for alarm. The Secretary of Agriculture, and by extension the White House, has authorized me to offer all resources and services that the U.S. Forest Service has at its disposal to assist in Australia where these devastating fires are taking place. Several entities within the United States have offered assets and personnel - I have been directed to be the liaison between our governments so that the communications do not become unorganized. Below are assets that the United States, including the U.S. Forest Service, is capable of deploying in the next 12 hours:


AIRCRAFT
x3 DC-10 (U.S. Forest Service)

-Capable of dumping 8,000 gallons of fire retardant in a matter of seconds in one drop.​

x4 CL-415s (U.S. Forest Service)

-Capable of dumping 1,621 gallons of water.
-Capable of reloading water by landing at local water sources instead of having to return to an airport​

x12 C-130J-30 (Texas Air National Guard)

-Each outfitted with Modular Airborne Firefighting System II (MAFFS II) which is capable of dumping 3,000 gallons of fire retardant in a matter of seconds in one drop.​

x3 HC-130J (U.S. Coast Guard)

-While these aircraft are not meant for firefighting, they are made for search and rescue and reconnaissance. These aircraft are outfitted with a large window on each side of the fuselage to allow crew members to visually scan the outside. The HC-130Js would be capable of flying around massive tracks of affected areas to document the spread and containment of the fires.​

PERSONNEL
Texas Task Force 1 (Texas/Federal Emergency Management Agency)
x70 Type I Urban Search and Rescue Personnel.

-These search and rescue personnel are especially trained to operate in complicated and devastated urban environments; this unit in particular was deployed to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and to Washington D.C. after the attack on the U.S. Capitol Building in 1997.​

Hotshots (U.S. Forest Service)
x500 Wildlands Firefighters AKA "Hotshots" from hotshot crews across the United States.

-These firemen are specifically trained to deploy to wilderness, non-urban areas to fight wildlands fires.​

RELIEF
Frigate Squadron One (U.S. Navy)
x5 Celestial-class Frigates

-Each transporting x12 pallets of medical supplies, MREs, and bottled water that the U.S. Navy has stored at HMAS Stirling. The frigates would sail to any civilian or military port in Melbourne to unload its supplies.​

At your earliest convenience, please inform me if all/any of these resources would be helpful and I will begin mobilization immediately thereafter.​

Very Respectfully,

George Bosworth
Chief of the United States Forest Service
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[Odinson]

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STATE OF TEXAS OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR​

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ENCRYPTED MESSAGE​

TO: Jacinta Allan, Premier of Victoria ( Owen )

CC: Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia

FROM: Ann Richards, Governor of Texas

Premier Allan,

I would like you to know that the hearts of the people of Texas and myself go out to you and everyone in Victoria who are affected by these dreadful fires. I can only imagine what you all must be going through - I am sure that the pictures and videos on television do not do the disaster any justice. When I heard that you were reaching out for help I knew that it was time for us to act. If Texas were in this same situation, I know that Australia would be among the first to offer us assistance.

In a case such as this, the federal government will typically cover some or most of the costs for the deployment of military assets from a state to another country for disaster relief. However, the downside is that securing these funds from the federal government can take time. I don't think that we have time to wait around for Washington to send us over a cheque, so we are moving forward immediately.

I am writing to inform you that under my authority as Governor of Texas and commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces, I have given the order for the emergency mobilization of the 181st Airlift Squadron which consists of twelve C-130J-30 Super Hercules and their crews. These aircraft will be outfitted by the U.S. Forest Service to be able to drop thousands of pounds of fire retardant. The airmen who belong to this unit have already received their mobilization orders and will be ready to deploy within the next 12 hours.

I have also called the Director of FEMA and he has approved the deployment of Texas Task Force 1, an elite urban search and rescue team. This team will be flown to Australia at the expense of the State of Texas - they will be departing in approximately 12 hours. All assets being deployed by Texas will directly coordinate with the U.S. Forest Service so that your government does not need to coordinate with my office of the Texas Military Department directly.

I wish that there was more that I could do. If there is any other way that you think Texas can assist Victoria or Australia at large during and after this tragedy, I trust that you will reach out to me directly and ask.​

Yours truly,

Ann Richards
Governor of Texas
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[Owen]

​

PREMIER OF VICTORIA​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: OFFICIAL​

9 February 2009

Dear Chief Bosworth, The DC-10s and CL-415s, along with all the personnel listed, would be extremely useful. The U.S. Navy component is probably not necessary at this stage as we do not have a shortage of medical or other supplies and arrangements to temporarily house and feed people have already been organised. There isn't a huge number of injured people, as the fires were so fast and ferocious, people either sustained minor injuries or they died. The hospitals in Melbourne are coping at this stage. The offer from the State of Texas is extremely generous and I wish you to pass on my regards to Governor Richards. Twelve of these aircraft is possibly a bit too excessive, we believe that four should be sufficient for the operations, given they are being joined by other aircraft from the United States and aircraft from our own National Aerial Firefighting Fleet. Yours sincerely, Jacinta Allan.

1 Treasury Place, EAST MELBOURNE, VIC 3000 Telephone: (03) 9651 5111​

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

Odinson