A Conversation with Lieutenant General P.K. (Ken) Keen, U.S. Army - Commander, Joint Task Force - Haiti

By Alex Bowley
April 19, 2010

Click here to listen to an mp3 audio file of the event.

Lieutenant General P. K. (Ken) Keen, the Military Deputy Commander of the US Southern Command, was in Haiti on January 12 for a meeting when the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck.  As the military’s second in command for Latin America and the Caribbean, Keen stayed in the country for the next three months to organize the response of the US military and command the Joint Task Force-Haiti (JTF), an experience he recounted upon his return to the US at a discussion hosted by Inter-American Dialogue on April 19th.

Keen was among the first international leaders tasked with jump starting the massive coordination effort for disaster relief.  In his brief opening remarks, he discussed the challenges the US has faced as a major player in relief efforts, but described collaborative efforts between a variety of international actors that have proven to be very successful. Initial coordination arrangements between the US Army, the United Nations, and the Haitian Government were “as clear as mud,” Keen admitted, but the gravity of the situation motivated the different groups to collaborate more effectively. 

Keen also applauded Haitian Prime Minister René Préval for his engagement in the relief efforts despite a governing structure severely challenged by the earthquake. He admitted that governance must improve, but expressed optimism about the Haitian government’s commitment to making progress on this front going forward.
 
During the question and answer session, Keen discussed the next steps for the US military’s mission in Haiti.   According to Keen, in the three months since the earthquake, US service personnel in Haiti have gone from a high of 22,000 to the current level of about 2,200. The US military plans to end its main disaster relief mission in early June with the shutdown of the JTF.

Some 500 US service personnel will continue in Haiti until September to help aid workers in coordination with the Haitian government and the US Agency for International Development.  Keen said that he was aware of some concerns voiced in Latin American media outlets about the presence of US troops in Haiti, making it integral that Washington “makes sure to portray in deed and word that what we are doing is humanitarian assistance.”

Reflecting on lessons learned for effective international collaboration on future disaster response, Keen underscored the need to quickly identify the severity of the disaster, to identify priorities for international action early in the game, and to act without delay.  Keen also discussed the challenges of working in a multilateral effort outside of the command structures of the military. “You cannot tell [other relief players on the ground] what to do,” he said, “but you have to find ways to convince them to do something—by showing them that it is somehow in their interest.”

He also praised to the contribution of non-government organizations, declaring them the “scouts and soldiers of humanitarian assistance.”