“The perfect platform”

That’s how Commodore Frank Ponds described the USS Kearsarge’s role in humanitarian assistance missions. Kearsarge is in the midst of Operation Continuing Promise 2008, supporting Phase 2 ops in the Caribbean.

Kearsarge deployed from its home port of Norfolk on August 6, 2008, crammed to the bulkheads with personnel and supplies for this mission. Integral in the planning for CP2008 was the recognition that the ship would be at sea during hurricane season and, according to Ponds, provisions were made for her to take an active role in disaster relief if necessary.

Along with the ship’s normal operating complement of sailors, and those additional personnel supporting the Commodore, the ship is carrying a variety of other passengers. Embarked units and organizations aboard Kearsarge for CP include Commander, Amphibious Squadron 8, Fleet Surgical Team 4; U.S. Public Health Service; Navy Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 202; Air Force Civil Engineering Squadron 5′s Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force; contingents of medical personnel from the armed forces of Canada, The Netherlands and Brazil; Navy Assault Craft Unit 2; Naval Beach Group 2; non-governmental organizations International Aide and Project Hope; U.S. Navy Maritime Civil Affairs Squadron 2; Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 28 and Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 464; personnel from the uniformed Public Health Service and civilians from Operation Smile and Project Hope and other NGO’s. During the mission a number of bloggers are also on board, providing social media coverage.

Allied nations have provided military personnel for this mission. The Canadians have 13-15 on board and have had a military media unit recording their service. The Dutch have two military doctors. Brazil and France have also provided military for this mission.

Kearsarge made its first stop in Nicaragua and was there August 12-24. During these thirteen days, a great deal was accomplished.

During the 13-day operation in Nicaragua, embarked NGOs and military units worked side-by-side with partner-nation military and civilian professionals to provide medical, dental, optometry and veterinary care along with construction, renovation and small-scale civil engineering projects.

CP 08 members worked together with Nicaragua medical professionals to conduct nearly 1,950 dental exams and procedures, more than 2,000 optometry exams and 43 surgeries aboard Kearsarge. In addition, the CP team provided primary care to nearly 7,420 patients and filled more than 20,000 prescriptions at several sites in the area.

In the preventive medicine arena, teams also conducted classes on personal and industrial hygiene, the safe preparation of food and water, child development and infant cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

Engineers assigned to Navy Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 202 and Air Force Civil Engineering Squadron 5´s Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force completed projects at seven sites, including three schools and a well repair. The work included the construction of two sea huts, electrical upgrades, roof replacement, playground construction, replacing doors and windows, painting and landscaping.

Kearsarge service members also participated in various community relations projects at the Seabee sites, offering extra hands to help with landscaping work, construction and painting renovations. The crew also held a softball competition with the local team, the Puerto Cabezas Veteranos.

From Nicaragua, Kearsarge sailed to Columbia and began work on August 27.

On September 6, Kearsarge was ordered to Haiti, to assist in disaster relief efforts after several hurricanes hit the region. She arrived September 8 and began an intense 18 day effort.

Haiti is judged to be the poorest nation in the Americas. After suffering through several hurricanes, the infrastructure of the country was in ruins and the people faced the real threats of starvation and disease. The country even lacked the ability to unload the relief supplies with fork lifts or other mechanical assistance.

Commodore Ponds reported that his personnel, male and female, “humped” the supplies off helicopters and onto trucks, and from the trucks to the distribution centers. The embarked helicopters of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464 and the landing craft carried by Kearsarge were vital to the transportation efforts.

Ponds reports that Kearsarge delivered 3.3 million pounds of relief supplies, 6,000 gallons of water and the embarked engineers assessed infrastructure damage to provide Haitian authorities with a prioritized list of repairs.

The destruction of roads and bridges meant that helicopters were often the only means of access to remote areas. Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 28 (HSC-28) Detachment 5 played a major role in this effort.

In a recent flight to Gonaives, HSC-28 made a very special delivery of food and water to an orphanage isolated by water and deep mud as a result of the recent hurricanes that struck the region. The only way for the staff and children to receive aid was by an airdrop from one of the squadron’s MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters.

“One American citizen painted a green circle on the top of the orphanage so we could see where to drop the supplies,” said Bartowitz. “There were 45 to 50 kids inside this two story building. The roads were all flooded out and covered in mud. There were people trudging in the mud waist deep.”

Medical personnel from Kearsarge, both American and Canadian, worked to assess needs and to provide assistance.

“I am glad to be here helping the people of Haiti,” said Canadian Air Force Capt. Jolene Cook, medical augmentee embarked aboard Kearsarge. “As a doctor, I hope to treat as many people as I possibly can, but I will be happy to help these people out in any way possible.”

Kearsarge made a two day run to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to refuel and obtain supplies on September 19-21.

Kearsarge concluded its relief mission September 26. Next stop: the Dominican Republic.

Kearsarge’s 14 day mission in the Dominican Republic, October 3-16, involved medical assistance, education and public works.

Medical specialists from Kearsarge, Fleet Surgical Team (FST) 4, the U.S. Public Health Service, Canada, Brazil, France and Project Hope worked together with Dominican medical professionals to conduct nearly 750 dental exams and procedures, more than 2,100 optometry exams, 35 surgeries aboard Kearsarge, provide more than 16,000 patients primary medical care and filled more than 31,600 prescriptions at several sites in the area.

In addition to treatment, teams also conducted subject matter expert exchange workshops on personal hygiene, sexual education and first aid.

“In some places, we provided care that the citizens otherwise would not have received,” said French Navy Master Chief Virginia Coste, a nurse embarked aboard Kearsarge for the Dominican Republic CP 2008 mission. “Whether they received medial treatment or just education, we made a difference, and they know they have our support.”

Engineers assigned to Navy Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 202 and Air Force Civil Engineering Squadron 5´s Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force completed projects at four sites. The work included the construction of a modified facility to house four new classrooms, expanding a local elementary school in Sabana Grande, and the rehab of a medical clinic in Bonao.

Taking time for a break, Kearsarge put in at the Dutch island of Curacao for liberty.The personnel aboard did not forget the people of Curacao, however, and organized and staffed a a two-day optometry clinic.

Keaarsarge is now off Trinidad, its fourth stop in Operation Continuing Promise 2008. It’s 13 day stay has several important tasks underway.

CP’s medical contingent, led by Fleet Surgical Team (FST) 4, with personnel from the U.S Public Health Service; Canada; Brazil; the Netherlands: and non-government organizations Project Hope and International Aid, moved medical equipment and personnel ashore to begin a 13-day clinical operation, augmenting local medical providers at the Couva District Health Facility and the Arima District Health Facility.

The embarked Navy Seabee Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 202 along with engineers from the Air Force’s 5th Civil Engineer Squadron Prime Base Emergency Engineer Force also began moving equipment ashore to prepare for renovation work in the Port of Spain and Tunapuna regions at the All-in-One Child Development Center, the St. Jude’s School for Girls and Cyril Ross Nursery.

Commodore Frank Ponds spoke with a number of us during a Bloggers’ Roundtable today. He talked in detail about the work being done by his people and the other units aboard Kearsarge.

• 107,373 patients have been medically assessed and some 34,000 treated
• 64,000 pharmaceuticals have been dispensed
• 91 repairs of bio-medical equipment
• 104 medical procedures performed on board
• dental work for 4,000 patients
• 4,000 animals, both livestock and pets, treated.

Ponds singled out Operation Smile for its work with cleft palate children. Some of the medical procedures on board were to correct this birth defect. He anticipates additional such medical procedures as the mission continues.

Kearsarge will remain deployed until early December.

• Public Health Service
• Project HOPE
• Operation Smile
• Project Handclasp

Photo captions:

1. USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) underway near Bangladesh, disaster relief mission
2. U.S. Air Force Senior Airmen Alexandra Olson, embarked aboard the USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), teaches children dental hygiene during a humanitarian mission in Betania, Nicaragua, on Aug. 17, 2008. The Kearsarge, which is deployed with various embarked units and nongovernmental organizations, is supporting the Caribbean phase of Continuing Promise 2008, an equal partnership mission between the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Brazil, Nicaragua, Panama, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. DoD photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher Lange, U.S. Navy
3. U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Carrie Broom, from the USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), helps a boy paint during a volunteer community event in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, on Aug. 23, 2008. The Kearsarge, which is deployed with various embarked units and nongovernmental organizations, is supporting the Caribbean phase of Continuing Promise 2008, an equal partnership mission between the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Brazil, Nicaragua, Panama, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Gina Wollman, U.S. Navy
4. U.S. Navy sailors assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) load supplies onto a CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to be delivered to areas affected by recent hurricanes on Sept. 13, 2008. The Kearsarge was diverted from its scheduled deployment in support of the humanitarian assistance mission Continuing Promise 2008 to conduct hurricane relief operations in Haiti. DoD photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher Lange, U.S. Navy
5. U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Carlos Monserrat, from Construction Battalion Mobile Unit 202, and Air Force engineer Staff Sgt. Richard Monsalve, both embarked aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), make adjustments to concrete blocks at the Socorro Sanchez Primary School construction site during the humanitarian and civic assistance mission Continuing Promise 2008 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Oct. 4, 2008. The Kearsarge is deployed in support of the Caribbean phase of Continuing Promise 2008, an equal-partnership mission between the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Brazil, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. DoD photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Maddelin Angebrand, U.S. Navy