Since arriving almost a week ago, US marines who were involved in the 2003 invasion of Iraq have been playing a vital role in helping survivors of the December 26 earthquake and tsunamis in Indonesia.

Their helicopters and hovercraft have been constantly shuttling relief supplies and medical equipment ashore to the once-beautiful town of Meulaboh, where more than 28,000 people have been killed.

Airborne reconnaissance missions from the carrier have also hunted for isolated survivors in the surrounding rural region, part of an unprecedented multinational humanitarian effort following the deaths of more than 110,000 people in Indonesia, mostly in Aceh province.

"It's been really frustrating, making sure we have space for everything," said US Navy Petty Officer William Gillespie, 28, who normally co-ordinates the movements of helicopters under repair in the hangar. Now he moves pallets of relief supplies as well.

Marine Captain Jay Delarosa said the crew was using "every space available" to store the supplies.

With about 3,000 marines and sailors aboard, the Bonhomme Richard leads a handful of other ships from Expeditionary Strike Group 5 working off Meulaboh.

They compliment a US Navy aid operation using the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other vessels closer to the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, more than 200 kilometres (120 miles) to the northwest.

The ships have been joined this week by P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft flying from Utapao, Thailand, said Captain J. Scott Jones, commander of the Bonhomme Richard.

Used during the invasion of Iraq, the aircraft have heat sensors which can help spot isolated groups of displaced people in need of assistance, he said.

"It's not too hard to take your ... combat capability and focus them on a humanitarian mission like this," said Jones, who worked his way up from an ordinary sailor to command one of the navy's largest ships.

Marines from the Bonhomme Richard seized the port of Um Qasr during the invasion of Iraq and then went on to Nasiriyah.

Jones said their current mission was essentially the same in terms of procedure.

"You can almost say, instead of dropping a bomb, it's dropping a meal," he said over dinner in the officers' mess, where the muffled sound of helicopters could still be heard.

Colonel Tom Greenwood, commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit based aboard the Bonhomme Richard, said his ship had about 15 helicopters, most of them heavy-lift CH-53 Sea Stallions and medium-lift Ch-46 Sea Knights.

While smaller Sea Hawks flying from the Abraham Lincoln have room for only about 40 boxes of food or water, the Stallions and Knights can carry far bigger loads.

One marine Stallion flight this week from Banda Aceh to Meulaboh moved several large crates of French medical equipment.

Even the biggest helicopter can only haul about 10,000 pounds of gear but the marines' other asset, the Landing Craft Air Cushion, can transport up to 70 tons of supplies, Greenwood said on the rubble-strewn Meulaboh beach, an unlit cigar in his hand.

Sounding like an airplane, the hovercraft drove onto the beach at midday Wednesday in a giant spray of sea and sand.

"Where is this from?" asked Rosdiana Nazar, 53. Behind her, a forklift from Singapore unloaded blankets and rice from the US hovercraft.

Seeing the craft approach, Azwar Abe, who gave his age as about 45, asked an AFP reporter if it was bringing aid.

"I hope to get some from them," said Abe, scavenging for scrap metal among bricks, concrete and other debris along the beach.

A former carpenter, he lost his work and all his possessions in the tsunami.

"We have been waiting for foreigners to come," Abe said, expressing hope that they will begin a reconstruction effort that will create jobs.

Greenwood emphasized the United States was working in co-operation with other countries supplying aid and Indonesia, whose officials advise them every night how US resources can best be used.

"We don't just come in and do it," said Greenwood, a 28-year veteran who has served in Haiti, Congo and Sierra Leone.

Greenwood said his biggest problem is the refuse from the tsunami. There is really only one landing zone, just back from the beach, where helicopters can safely come down without their rotors throwing up too much dangerous debris, he said.

Despite their large offshore presence, only four marines actually stay ashore in Meulaboh, he said.

"We're trying to keep our footprint small so we don't give the impression that we're an occupying force or an invader," he said.

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