Humanitarian Assistance (HA) is a combination of U.S. military programs whose primary purpose is to offer assistance to local populations. While similar to Humanitarian and Civic Assistance (HCA) -- humanitarian programs that are a secondary component of a training exercise -- HA projects can be carried out independent of other military activity, as a solely humanitarian endeavor.

HA programs are overseen by the office of Overseas Humanitarian Disaster and Civic Aid within the Department of Defense.  Assistance falls into five different categories:^*

• Humanitarian Daily Rations – food rations often provided to refugees or displaced persons;

• The “Denton” program – use of excess space on DoD aircraft to transport non-profit organizations' humanitarian goods;

• Humanitarian Funded Transportation – a fund which can pay private contractors (generally shipping companies) to transport humanitarian goods for non-profit organizations;

• Excess Property (EP) – non-lethal excess DoD property transferred via the Department of State for humanitarian reasons; and

• Other projects.

The Denton program was used extensively after Hurricane Mitch to transfer disaster assistance to Central America.  

Excess property in Latin America and the Caribbean usually takes the form of medical supplies and items that can be used for disaster assistance.  The closure of U.S. bases in Panama is resulting in large quantities of EP transfers in the region, including equipment from the schools for U.S. military dependents and hospitals that will close by late 1999.

^* While Defense Department Humanitarian Demining programs are reported to Congress with the Humanitarian and Civic Assistance programs, within the Pentagon they are overseen by the Overseas Humanitarian Disaster and Civic Aid office which governs Humanitarian Assistance.

Section 2551 requires the Secretary of Defense to provide an annual report to the House and Senate Armed Services committees, the House International Relations Committee, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The report, due with the Defense Department's annual budget submission, must include the total amount spent on HA programs in the previous year, the number of HA transportation missions carried out, and a description of all excess property transferred. 

The Excess Property program is authorized by Section 2547 of Title 10, U.S. Code, which allows the Secretary of Defense to "make available for humanitarian relief purposes any nonlethal excess supplies of the Department of Defense."

The term "nonlethal excess property" means property, other than real estate:

1. That is excess property, as defined by Defense Department regulations; and
2. That is not a weapon, ammunition, or other equipment or material that is designed to inflict serious bodily harm or death.