The Department of Defense is actively providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in support of Operation Tomodachi, which means “friends” in Japanese. Since Operation Tomodachi began, 7th Fleet forces have delivered more than 260 tons of relief supplies to earthquake/tsunami survivors and flown 160 aerial reconnaissance and search sorties. The U.S. Agency for International Development is coordinating the overall U.S. government efforts in support of the Japanese government’s response to the earthquakes and subsequent tsunami. USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Teamcontinues to engage at three levels to determine any possible humanitarian needs in Japan: nationally through Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, locally at the prefecture level and in coordination with U.S. Forces-Japan, and through Japanese civil society organizations…