Courtesy Photo | Master Chief Petty Officer Denise Becker, hospital corpsman, and Lt. Cmdr. Arthur...... read more read more
JOINT EXPEDITIONARY BASE LITTLE CREEK-FORT STORY, Va. - The Maritime Civil Affairs and Security Training Command recently supported Pacific Partnership 2010, deploying a two sailor team on a five month, six nation tour of the Western Pacific. The annual operation is conducted by U.S. Pacific Fleet to provide humanitarian and civic assistance to strengthen alliances, improve U.S. and partner capacity to deliver civil assistance and improve security cooperation among partner nations.
The Pacific Partnership team comprised professionals from each of the U.S. Armed Forces, ten partner nations, seven embarked Non-Governmental Organizations, and ten supporting NGOs that treated 109,754 patients, performed 859 surgeries, issued 60,883 pairs of prescription eye glasses, completed 22 engineering projects, participated in 86 community service projects, in addition to treating more than 2,800 veterinary patients.
“The unique skill sets possessed by MCAST Command sailors enables us to contribute to missions such as Pacific Partnership in an efficient, meaningful, and effective way,” said CAPT Frank Hughlett, MCAST Command Commanding Officer.
Versatile and mission flexible, the highly trained MCAST Command sailors offered subject matter expertise, performing a variety of functions to support the operation, including assisting the command staff of Destroyer Squadron 21 and providing civil assessments and pre-arrival coordination in advance of the operation’s port visits.
A Navy Reservist and school teacher, Lt. Cmdr. Vince Prevatte served as staff augment to COMDESRON 21 onboard USNS Mercy. Prevatte, an expert communicator and veteran maritime civil affairs officer, volunteered for the operation having just returned from a six month deployment to the Africa Partnership Station.
“Pacific Partnership is important because it is the only Global Fleet Station currently active in one of the Navy’s largest geographic areas of responsibility,” explained Prevatte. “Southeast Asia is a highly disaster prone part of the world and the maritime civil affairs expertise MCAST Command offers helps lay the groundwork for more efficient operations in the event of an actual disaster.”.
While Prevatte served onboard the Mercy supporting operations and planning, Master Chief Petty Officer Denise Becker, hospital corpsman, was assigned to the Advanced Operational Units for each of the countries Mercy visited. The advance units were one of the most important components of the Pacific Partnership force. With her technical expertise in medicine, her operational training in civil affairs, and her leadership experience as a U.S. Navy master chief, Becker was a perfect choice to work alongside the host nation’s civil authorities, country teams and other stakeholders to help plan each mission.
One of Becker’s responsibilities included helping to coordinate the community service program, some of the more intensive activities the Pacific Partnership team conducted. She was responsible for both planning and site selection, as well as coordination with local national non-governmental organizations
“Being able to visit the orphanages, childcare centers, battered women centers, and the food programs in the remote mountains offers an aspect unique to Pacific Partnership that broadens our reach to the nation we are serving,” said Becker. “I am most proud that I have been able to help identify organizational needs such as the childcare centers and the centers that assist child victims of domestic violence. This is real civil affairs work.”
MCAST Command, which was commissioned in 2009 as a merger of the former Maritime Civil Affairs Group and Expeditionary Training Command, deploys sailors to help the Navy establish and enhance relations between military forces, governmental and non-governmental organizations and host nation populations. The command deploys two types of teams, Maritime Civil Affairs and security force Mobile Training Teams, to support exercises and overseas contingency operations that enable partner nations to establish and exercise maritime security and sovereignty.
| Date Taken: | 11.23.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 11.23.2010 14:56 |
| Story ID: | 60746 |
| Location: | FORT STORY, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 145 |
| Downloads: | 9 |
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