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Helping Japan cope with damage from the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster is the U.S. military’s top priority in the Pacific, Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard said from Hawaii late Thursday.

Willard is the Commander of the United States Pacific Command (PACOM), a Hawaii-based command whose responsibility covers half the globe — from the U.S. West Coast to India, from Antarctica to the North Pole.

“We are placing our very highest priority on our operations in support of our ally Japan,” the admiral told the Pentagon Press Corps by phone.

Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Army and Special Operations Command troops are in Japan providing support, Willard said, including bringing food, water and other supplies to the more than 500,000 displaced residents of northeast Japan.

“We’re providing logistics support and in some cases direct support,” Willard said, noting that his troops are also working with Japan’s Ground Self Defense Force to help with the nuclear emergency.

The U.S. military has radiological controls and teams in place to assist with radiation monitoring and decontamination. Teams on the ground have monitoring equipment with individuals carrying dosimeters to track radioactivity, he said.

PACOM has named its aid efforts Operation Tomodachi — adopting the Japanese word for friendship.

Willard said he and his wife will soon fly from Hawaii to Japan to “visit our forces and their families and engage our Japanese friends.”

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