Photo By Chief Petty Officer James Mullen | 221221-N-DF135-1082 NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va. (Dec. 21, 2022) Civilian mariners...... read more read more
NORFOLK, Va. (December 21, 2022)—The Civil Service Mariners (CIVMARs) who operate Military Sealift Command’s hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) sailed the ship into Naval Station Norfolk, completing the ship’s support for Continuing Promise 2022 (CP22), Dec. 21.
The CP22 Team made five mission stops in the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility, where they provided medical and expeditionary veterinary care, conducted training and subject matter expert exchanges on various medical, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief topics and lead seminars on Women, Peace, and Security.
“USNS Comfort is essentially a floating hospital that can perform surgeries and a variety of other medical procedures at sea,” according to Junior Supply Officer Alec Schenning, one of USNS Comfort’s 74 CIVMARs. “The focus of CP22 was to provide medical aid across the Caribbean region and South America, while showcasing the capabilities of the U.S. Navy and U.S. military medical services.”
CP22 made port calls in Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Dominican Republic, and Haiti where the military medical team saw more than 13,000 patients, participated in over 25 subject matter expert exchanges, conducted five humanitarian assistance and disaster relief workshops, shared in 18 Women, Peace and Security initiative events, and partook in 11 community relations engagements. Additionally, Comfort conducted a resupply mission stop at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the only Main Operating Base (MOB) in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility and the oldest overseas U.S. Naval Base.
The CIVMARs who crew USNS Comfort are in charge of the operation of the hospital ship.
“CIVMARs are responsible for everything related to the physical ship,” Schenning stated. “The Deck Department is in charge of navigation, driving the small boats and handling lines while docking the ship. The Engine Department is tasked with keeping the propeller spinning, the lights on and the air conditioning running; while the Supply Department coordinates all port services, ensures we have all the necessary repair parts and material and keeps the crew fed.”
“CIVMARs were instrumental in operating the USNS Comfort’s tender boats in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic to bring patients onto the ship while we were at anchorage,” he added. “CIVMARs were also instrumental in positioning the ship at anchorage, getting the vessel to port on time and orienting the ship for flight operations.”
As with all military deployments, the Comfort Team faced various challenges while on deployment.
“Operating in lesser developed regions is always a challenge as logistics support is limited,” Schenning said. “For example, Comfort needed to find a crane large enough to reach our flight deck to offload medical material while in Honduras and only two cranes large enough were available in the entire country.”
“In another instance, Comfort experienced equipment failures that required us to expedite delivery of critical parts to Columbia,” he added “These parts needed to be quickly identified, sourced, shipped and installed within tight deadlines. The crew addressed and resolved these issues through teamwork and by working with regional partners and agents.”
Since the inauguration of Continuing Promise in 2007, MSC CIVMARs have treated more than 595,000 patients and conducted over 7,250 surgeries in the region. The successful completion of the mission marks the end of the 12th Continuing Promise.
“CIVMARs are professional mariners and adept problem solvers,” said Schenning. “The CP22 mission presented many challenges that CIVMARs willingly faced and overcame in order to help complete the mission. Comfort’s CIVMARs rose to the challenge each time.”
Throughout the deployment, Comfort’s CIVMARs supported the CP22 Team which included U.S. and partner nation medical personnel from Canada, Chile, Ecuador, the United Kingdom, U.S. Coast Guardsmen, U.S. Marines and U.S. National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana. Additionally, the mission included multiple non-governmental organizations and personnel from academic institutions who volunteered to serve on the CP22 team.
“CIVMARs and MSC are a less known commodity in the U.S. Navy,” Schenning concluded. “But we perform an important role for the United States and our allied Navies. CIVMARs are able to accomplish a variety of tasks with minimal manning and we usually find a way to have some fun while doing it.”
| Date Taken: | 12.21.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.21.2022 15:13 |
| Story ID: | 435674 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 306 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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