Pacific Angel kicks off in Vietnam

  • Published
  • By Capt. Timothy Lundberg
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
CAN THO, Vietnam (AFNS) --  Airmen and Sailors from bases throughout the Pacific and continental U.S. started Pacific Angel 10-2, a U.S. Pacific Command humanitarian and civic assistance mission, May 9, here.
 
Servicemembers delivered medical supplies to a local elementary school and civic infrastructure improvements began at two local village medical clinics. 

"Today we received pharmaceutical supplies, took inventory, organized medication by type and category, set up patient rooms, set up waiting areas and treatment areas," said Maj. Gerald Delk, a Reservist deployed from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. "We also rehearsed how the mission would move forward and how we would interact with the Vietnamese physicians."

The humanitarian and civic assistance mission takes place in countries around the Pacific to provide medical relief and improve capacity building and is aimed at improving military civic cooperation between the U.S. and countries throughout the region.

In Vietnam, engineers installed windows, doors, door jams and more than 500 feet of wiring at two local village medical clinics at Tan Thoi and Troung Thanh. More than 50 military members are participating in this operation and are working side-by-side with Vietnamese officials and military members. Pacific Angel 10-2 will continue through May 17.

The Pacific Angel team set up clinics such as family medicine, dentistry, optometry and women's health.

"We developed a plan to distribute the patients and interact with the Vietnamese physicians," Major Delk said. "Each American physician will be paired with a Vietnamese medical technician and each Vietnamese physician with a U.S. medical technician. We'll do this as we combine our efforts to provide care to the Vietnamese residents of the Can Tho area."