Photo By Tech. Sgt. Tony Tolley | Petty Officer 1st Class Cassandra Townsend paints a dormitory room at Matevulu College...... read more read more
By Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Russell
ABOARD USS CLEVELAND, AT SEA – Petty Officer 1st Class Cassandra Townsend, from McComb, Miss. is serving aboard amphibious transport dock ship USS Cleveland in support of Pacific Partnership 2011. Cassandra Townsend is the daughter of McComb, Miss. residents, Charles Atkinson Sr. and Delorise Atkinson.
Cleveland is the lead vessel for Pacific Partnership 2011.Pacific Partnership is the Pacific Fleet’s annual mission to Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands to engage in partnerships with host nations by improving dialogue, effecting a lasting, positive change, and employing subject matter expert exchanges in order to improve the capabilities and interoperability of the U.S. and partner nations when dealing with natural and man-made disasters.
“Pacific Partnership is an outstanding way to forge relationships between countries. Teaching health care skills and engineering skills that will benefit each area for years to come with partner nations is great,” said Townsend.
Cleveland will visit the Kingdom of Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and the Federated States of Micronesia, and the military group will be accompanied by non-government organizations like Project HOPE, Vets Without Borders, and the University of California, San Diego Pre-Dental Society.
“This mission gives you an opportunity to visit a variety of countries and an opportunity to help increase their quality of life. This mission lets you see firsthand the difficulties of living with little healthcare,” said Townsend.
Pacific Partnership developed as a mission following the tsunami in 2004 which devastated Indonesia and much of the South Pacific. Since then, Pacific Partnership has treated 150,000 patients in 15 countries, and is supported by all U.S. uniformed services and partner nations including Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. Other nations providing teams include Canada, Spain, Malaysia, and France.
Townsend is a graduate of McComb High school in McComb, Miss.
| Date Taken: | 05.17.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 05.17.2011 10:41 |
| Story ID: | 70531 |
| Location: | ABOARD USS CLEVELAND, USAFRICOM, AT SEA |
| Web Views: | 69 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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