Kearsarge deploys for goodwill work in Caribbean, S. America

NORFOLK

The words “amphibious assault ship” and “humanitarian work” haven’t traditionally appeared in the same sentence, but the Navy is set on changing that.

The Kearsarge – just such a ship – departed Wednesday morning on a goodwill voyage to bring health care and engineering assistance to the Caribbean and South America.

The goal, the Navy says, is to show U.S. support for the region.

“They’re our neighbors. They need our help,” said Capt. Frank Ponds, commander of Amphibious Squadron 8.

The four-month, six-nation cruise will visit Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama, and Trinidad & Tobago.

It is the latest phase of Operation Continuing Promise, which brings medical and engineering expertise to the region as the Navy places renewed emphasis on humanitarian work as a key part of its maritime strategy.

The Kearsarge picks up where the San Diego-based amphibious assault ship Boxer left off, after a three-month deployment earlier this year. These Continuing Promise trips come after last year’s visit to the region by the hospital ship Comfort, and are intended to be longer and more involved.

The ship’s normal crew is joined by Air Force and Navy engineers and representatives from several non-governmental organizations.

The services they’ll provide include medical care from surgery to dental work, public health initiatives such as immunizations and water treatment, and infrastructure and utility repairs.

The Kearsarge got a taste of relief work on its previous deployment, when it spent this past Thanksgiving in the Bay of Bengal, helping tropical cyclone victims in Bangladesh.

The ship itself is ideally suited to this type of work, said Capt. Walter Towns, the Kearsarge’s newly minted commanding officer, who took the reins Monday.

It has a large hospital suite, with an intensive care unit and multiple operating rooms, that ranks second in size only to the hospital ships. Its complement of landing craft and heavy duty helicopters will be used to transport people and equipment to shore and for inland projects, he said.

Air Force Maj. Tom DeFazio will oversee the mission’s 40 Air Force engineers and 20 Seabees as they build schools from scratch, repair aging infrastructure and build playgrounds.

“This is just another platform for us to do engineering work,” DeFazio said, though he did admit that “every day is a new learning experience for us on a ship.”

Ruben Ayala, a medical officer with Operation Smile, said partnering with the Navy will allow his group to work in an area of Nicaragua where it normally couldn’t go because of safety concerns. About three dozen people from the group will join the ship there, then continue with it to Colombia.

While future trips have yet to be planned, Ponds said the old days, where long periods passed between U.S. visits to the region, are gone.

The area needs help in the short-term, he said. And the goodwill benefits everyone.

“It’s about influencing generations to come,” he said.

Matthew Jones, (757) 446-2949, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com