Photo By Sgt. Tamika Exom | Citizens of Guatemala line the streets or the opening ceremony and ribbon cutting...... read more read more
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COBAN, Guatemala – The threat of afternoon rain and low visibility didn’t stop the helicopters carrying the Guatemalan president and U.S. assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs from landing on the isolated United Nations base of Creompaz, June 28, to join host nation and U.S. military leaders for the Beyond the Horizon-Guatemala 2012 closing ceremony.
The high-ranking public officials, Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson, both took time out of their busy schedules to personally show their gratitude, during the ceremony, for the efforts over the last three months by both American and Guatemalan troops.
Beyond the Horizon-Guatemala (BTH-G) 2012, was a U.S. Army South-led, U.S. Southern Command-sponsored, and joint-foreign military civic and humanitarian exercise, executed in Guatemala that began in April.
During the exercise, U.S. Army and Navy troops worked with a variety of governmental and non-governmental agencies to train side by side while providing medical and dental care and engineering support to local populations. The civic programs are designed to assist in providing local communities with a wide range of construction capabilities and included building repairs and improvements.
“Peace is building medical centers, bridges, roads and schools that benefit many of the communities of Guatemala,” said Molina. “Beyond the Horizons will help approximately 75,000 Guatemalans in the San Marcos and Alta Vista area, costing approximately $8 milion.”
During the exercise, U.S. troops across the services, along with the National Army of Guatemala (Ejercito Nacional de Guatemala, ENG), built two new schools and renovated another, while also building two new health clinics in some of the most remote areas around the mountainsides of Guatemala.
Soldiers from the 203rd Engineer Battalion of the Missouri National Guard spent their two-week rotation building a new facility for a school in Sarrax-Och, while also renovating an existing structure there.
The Seabees, Navy reservists from Fort Belvoir, Va., contributed by providing engineering and construction services to the community of El Rancho, for a new women’s health center. The building is also in addition to the existing structure that provides service to seven of the surrounding communities.
The 188th Civil Engineer Squadron of the Arkansas Air National Guard, based in Fort Smith, Ark., as part of BTH, worked for more than a month to construct a new women’s clinic for the community of Tactic.
“Any obstacles, [the airmen] adapted to and overcame,” said Maj. Joe Harrison, the 188th CES commander. “We are honored and humbled to be here.”
U.S. and Canadian military health care professionals conducted medical, dental and veterinary readiness training exercises (MEDRETEs, DENTRETEs and VETRETEs), working with host-nation medical personnel to provide general and specialized medical and dental services to thousands of citizens requiring care.
These medical and dental services included public health and preventive medicine, dental care, adult and pediatric medicine, medical education, immunizations, and nutritional counseling, according to Capt. Sherry Kwon, a reservist from the 352nd Combat Support Hospital serving as officer in charge of the MEDRETE held June 26.
“We’re forming a relationship between our two countries, and showing that we are friendly forces,” said Kwon. “We are here to help, working together, united.”
The veterinarian care provided vaccinations for an estimated 600 families’ livestock by the end of the two-week VETRETE, which included cattle, pigs and chickens, the country’s main sources of protein, said Army Reserve Capt. Daniel Skirvin, a veterinarian with the 1019th Medical Detachment in Garden Grove, Calif. During the VETRETE, animals were vaccinated for anthrax and rabies, and were also given de-worming medicine.
“This is a vital service that ensures the health of valuable food sources,” said Skirvin. “It helps prevent diseases that could be passed from animals and livestock to a population.”
As the ceremony came to an end, the color guard, carrying both nations colors, passed the official party and the large formation of U.S. and Guatemalan troops and made it’s way off the parade field, and officially concluded the ceremony and BTH-Guatemala 2012.
Molina and Jacobson shook the hands of those in attendance and quickly made their way to their respective aircraft, buckled up, and made it off the base before the weather was able to inhibit the ability to fly back to Guatemala City.
“Thank you for participating in this activity that strengthens the relations between our two countries, said Molina. “I thank all the participants of the armed forces that worked here in our country and I wish you a safe return and much success in the missions that you carry out.”
| Date Taken: | 06.28.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 07.09.2012 05:54 |
| Story ID: | 91268 |
| Location: | COBAN, GT |
| Web Views: | 112 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
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