Airmen aboard hospital ship, providing humanitarian help

  • Published
  • By Dona E. Fair
  • Defense Media Activity - San Antonio
ABOARD USNS COMORT (AFNS) --  For Airmen traveling aboard the hospital ship USNS Comfort, 10 days spent in Colon, Panama, meant helping bring smiles to thousands of grateful Panamanians through the U.S. Southern Command's mission Continuing Promise 2009.

From April through July, Airmen, along with servicemembers from all military branches, are helping provide a variety of medical, dental, veterinary and engineering programs to seven Caribbean, Central and South American nations through this humanitarian and civic assistance mission. Servicemembers even provide musical performances.

The ship docked in Colon, May 24 through June 3, where teams of servicemembers, along with civilians from charity groups and academic missions, went to work assisting the Panamanians.

"The families here in Panama have been amazing. The children and parents are so grateful to have us here and excited to be with us," said Capt. Rebecca A. Christi, a pediatric physician, normally assigned to Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Va. "It makes you fully appreciate the wealth of resources many Americans take for granted and makes you want to help these people here all the more."

During the medical portion of the mission, personnel treated patients daily at three temporary medical sites in Colon. These sites offered minor medical care such as teeth cleanings, eye screenings and general medical examinations. They saw on average more than a thousand patients a day.

"As part of a team of optometrists that has already seen more than 20,000 patients and dispensed more than15,000 pairs of glasses (during the entire mission), this has been a very valuable experience in today's joint environment," said Maj. Brian K. Foutch, who is from the 711th Human Performance Wing at Brooks City-Base in San Antonio.

There also were several engineering sites with missions ranging from repairing a school playground to renovating a local medical clinic. Veterinarians and preventive medicine physicians provided roving services ensuring that the needs of the animal population were not forgotten.

"I am participating in the experience of a lifetime, going to seven countries in four months, helping people who appreciate our work so much. Not only are we helping, but we are building positive relationships with these countries," said Senior Airman Shaquonique S. Jones, an ophthalmology technician from the 6th Medical Group at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

On board to provide entertainment to the local people were members of the U.S. Air Force Band South. Regardless of the spoken language barrier, the music was understood by all.

"It has been special to see how excited people get when we play and how much they appreciate us giving them what they perceive as a gift," said Senior Airman David M. Evans, a regional bandsman from Lackland AFB in San Antonio.

During Continuing Promise 2009, the USNS Comfort visited Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Antigua. They are scheduled to continue on to Columbia, Nicaragua and El Salvador before the end of this year's mission.