PHILIPPINES (June 6, 2008) Capt. Kathy Goldberg, a physical therapist aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), assists Romeo Bintoy with taking his first steps in eight years after having corrective plastic surgery. Pacific Partnership program assists the government of the Philippines in providing local communities with medical, dental and engineering civic action programs providing focused humanitarian assistance. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph Seavey

It wasn’t so long ago that the appearance of a United States Naval vessel off the coast of a Central or South American nation meant only one thing. The Marines were landing, either to prop up an existing government or to replace it. The history of United States interventions in the affairs of other nations in our hemisphere goes back to nearly the founding of our country. You cannnot blame the citizens of Latin American nations if they have a suspicious view of the United States and the United States Navy.

In a five part series this week, ANSJ will look at one step that the Navy is taking to change that perspective, Operation Continuing Promise 2008, and in particular the activities of the men and women aboard the U.S.S. Boxer this Spring. A group of hard working Americans is making a difference one roof, one paintbrush at a time.

The U.S.S. Boxer sailed from San Diego at the beginning of May. It has visited Guatemala and El Salvador, and is scheduled to proceed to Peru later in the Summer. Operation Continuing Promise 2008 is a partnership between the military – all four services, the uniformed Public Health Service, and Project Hope, a private NGO. The embarked personnel have been working with host nation civil and military authorities, local and regional NGO’s and the local population. The mission is to improve healthcare, provide health information and training and to provide other assistance wherever possible.

Commodore Peter K. Dallman:

“The variety of training and capabilities Continuing Promise will take into the region clearly demonstrates our nation’s commitment to fostering cooperative partnerships,” said Dallman. “This is a diverse mission that demands a diverse ship and crew. The same flexibility that makes Boxer an effective warship also makes it an extraordinarily effective platform for performing humanitarian assistance missions.”

U.S. Southern Command:

Embarked units and organizations aboard Boxer for CP include Amphibious Squadron 5, Fleet Surgical Team 5, U.S. Public Health Service, Project HOPE, Project Handclasp, Navy Seabee Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303, Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 14, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 764, Tactical Air Control Squadron 11, Special Marine Air Ground Task Force 24, Helicopter Sea Combat Support Squadron 23, Assault Craft Unit 1, Fleet Survey Team, Beach Master Unit 1 and Maritime Civil Affairs Team 205

Appearances can be deceiving. The Jegdalak medical health center, standing alone atop a rock-strewn hill overlooking Jegdalak, looks nothing like a medical facility. The clinic, however, serves a remote region of more than 30,000 Afghans.

Located approximately 100 miles east of Kabul, traveling to this remote clinic from Kabul is a challenge in itself.

Lt. Cmdr. Dan Patterson, Navy Lt. Anthony Dotson, Air Force Maj. Lena Soto and their inspection team, made the trip recently to determine if the clinic adequately meets the needs of the local populace. The clinic, funded by various humanitarian organizations, is regularly inspected by Patterson’s medical team.

“I oversee funding for various humanitarian assistance construction projects such as this clinic,” said Patterson, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan Surgeon General office.

Opened just a month ago, the clinic’s small staff has already provided medical treatment to more than 1,400 Afghans who until recently had virtually no access to proper medical care.

“To the Afghans, these new clinics are revolutionary,” Patterson said. “In the past we have set up programs that delivered more than 2,750 vaccines to people who otherwise would not have been inoculated.”

Patterson also serves as his team’s senior advisor to the Afghan ministry of public health.

“These are projects that directly impact the health needs of the Afghan people,” he said. “In some of the more remote villages, the Taliban told these people their government didn’t care about them. We came (with medical aid), and we proved them wrong.”

Building on this success, Soto, nurse advisor with the CSTC-A Command Surgeon’s office and ministry of public health, said one of the biggest challenges is changing some of the prevailing attitudes.

“Reinforcing new attitudes is imperative,” Soto said. “Of the Afghan nursing teams I have worked with, we have had to train and re-train them on the need for sterility, proper housekeeping and providing better bedside manners to their patients.”

Soto said she believes education is the key.

“We need to start with the children and move forward. The Afghans are willing to learn the basics,” Soto said. “They are interested in change, but change will not come quickly. We need more teachers and more people willing to work as trainers.”

With $5 million allocated for new and current programs, both Patterson and Soto are hopeful their efforts will lead to more improvements in the Afghans’ quality of life.
Patterson said success is measured in small steps.

“Recently, we had an instance where, because of the clinic, a young girl’s life was saved,”
Patterson said. “The girl’s family traveled to the clinic, and the child was diagnosed with appendicitis. She was transported to a hospital in Kabul for treatment.”

According to Patterson, the hospital staff in Kabul disagreed with the clinic’s diagnosis and sent her back to Jegdalak. Upon her return, she was re-tested, and the Jegdalak doctors confirmed their original diagnosis. They insisted she needed an appendectomy and sent her to another hospital in Kabul.

This time the surgeons operated just in time to remove the girl’s infected appendix.

“If not for the clinic, this young girl would have died,” Patterson said. “We are finding ways to help the Afghans become self-sufficient.”

DVIDS

Soldiers from 101st Airborne Division Special Troop Battalion conducted the first foot patrol in Qalehyegolay village, directly outside Bagram Air Field in 20 years, April 12, according to Afghan Col. Crolam Myjtabe Quais, the Afghan national police chief for Parwan province.

The intention of the patrol was to meet with village leaders near BAF and create a working relationship between the community and the Soldiers.

“My Soldiers were extremely motivated and well disciplined,” said Army 1st Lt. Michael Skuski, platoon leader for Entry Control Point 1 platoon, Headquarters and Support Company, 101st DSTB. “They executed the patrol almost flawlessly.”

Army Capt. Stan Goligoski, HSC commander, went on the patrol to meet with the village elders face-to-face and learn more about their needs.

“We want to reach out to the community for them to understand we are in this together,” said Goligoski. “They provide us information and we provide them with necessities; it’s a great relationship.”

“At first, we felt like we were infringing on their area, but to receive that reception that we did and for the people to really welcome us with open arms … we will continue to do this,” said Goligoski.

The village community took in the Soldiers and offered tea, milk and cookies. Once Goligoski and the village leaders introduced each other, explained their needs and offered assistance to one another, the Soldiers thanked them and headed back to BAF.

“As we were walking out, the entire village came out and was there to see us off,” said Skuski.

Overall, the mission was a success for Goligoski, Skuski and their troops.

“The reception from the people was phenomenal,” said Goligoski. “I’m looking forward to working with the surrounding villages after a reception like that.”

The Soldiers plan to visit Qalehyegolay and other villages surrounding BAF in the near future, to bring humanitarian assistance and medical supplies to many people who haven’t seen a foreign Soldier since the Russians left here 20 years ago.

DVIDS

Pfc. Takeysha Washington, a medic assigned to 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, measures an infant’s vital signs—pulse, temperature and blood pressure—during a medical civil action program in Abu Amer, Iraq, March 28. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Tami Hillis)

Residents of Abu Amer, a small village in the Wasit province of Iraq, received medical assistance March 28 from Coalition forces during a medical civil action program designed to provide basic primary care.

Using a school as a makeshift clinic, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, attached to 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, secured the area before announcing, via loudspeaker, the opportunity for residents to receive health care and humanitarian assistance.

Once word of the MEDCAP was broadcast, people began to pour in from the streets, forming a line just outside the school.

Maj. Howard Curlin, 703rd Brigade Support Battalion surgeon; Capt. Jacob Turnquist, 4th BCT surgeon; and Maj. Marilyn Lazarz, an Army public health nurse with Company B, 415th Civil Affairs, led the team examining, diagnosing, treating and advising the patients, along with the help of nine medics.

At the initial screening station, combat medics, assisted by translators, interviewed each patient for medical history and previous treatments and noted his or her ailment on a slip of paper. Then the medics measured each patient’s vital signs—pulse, temperature and blood pressure.

“The locals who were seen at the medical event were grateful for the medical care provided to them by the doctors, medics and nurse,” said Lazarz, who has been a public health nurse for 18 years. “Coalition forces continue to build relationships with the locals and continue to make a difference in their everyday lives.”

As the day continued, medical personnel saw 212 patients, ranging from infants to elderly, with various ailments. Medical issues ranged from common joint and back pain to infections and gastrointestinal disorders.

“We’re only equipped with a limited supply of medications,” said Turnquist, a pediatrician by trade. “We know going in there that we’re potentially going to see hundreds of people.”

Most of the medications handed out were over-the-counter medicines, said the Rockford, Ill. native. Cold medicines, multivitamins, antibiotics and topical medicines for rashes were also distributed.

Each patient received an evaluation, treatment, medicine if needed and humanitarian assistance—food, soccer balls, beanie babies, candy—donated by various Soldiers in the support battalion, said Capt. Casey Woody, commander of Company C, 703rd BSB.

“We went in there assessing what the people were coming in with, what complaints they had, what their age range was and what their demographics were,” Turnquist said. “That information itself is helpful hopefully down the road when we can provide that to the Ministry of Health to see if they can get more long-term medical support to that area.”

Overall, Woody felt the MEDCAP achieved its objective.

“I’m proud of my Soldiers and how they conducted themselves,” said the father of two from Plymouth, Mich. “If you can help a person, it’s a good feeling. I think we’re doing a lot of things, and we’re working in the right direction with the ePRT (embedded Provincial Reconstruction team) and civil affairs … We know we’re not going to fix this problem in a year, but we want to get them on the right start.”

Task Force Marne
By Sgt. 1st Class Tami Hillis