CDS 24 Leaves On Humanitarian Mission

The mission is planned as part of U.S. Southern Command Partnership of the Americas. U.S. Southern Command is headed by Adm. Jim Stravridis.

This deployment is modeled in part on last year's USNS Mercy deployment to southeast Asia and the western Pacific that delivered substantial medical and dental support to a significant number of people in remote locations.

"Comfort's mission is to provide the region a mobile, flexible, and rapidly responsive afloat medical capability for a number of missions and training opportunities in Central America, South America and the Caribbean Sea region," said Capt. Robert E. Kapcio, Commander, DESRON 24 and mission commander for the numerous and multi-faceted detachments embarking USNS Comfort.

One of the nation's go-to ships in emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina, the Comfort will embark on a four-month humanitarian assistance mission of 12 countries in Central and South America, and the Caribbean.

The mission was announced by Pres. Bush prior to his trip to Latin America in March as part of his America's Initiative. While deployed USNS Comfort will be under operational control of Mayport based-U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (NAVSO) and tactical control of DESRON 24.

The Navy is working with numerous governmental and non-governmental agencies, as well as foreign governments to plan this mission. Comfort will depart from Norfolk, Va., where it is picking up the remainder of its approximately 800-person complement in mid-June for its first mission stop in Belize.

The wide range of participants in the Comfort mission include U.S. Navy SEABEEs from 22 NCR, Fleet Forces Band, SH-60S helicopter detachment from HSC-28, Fleet Forces Public Affairs Center, a Mobile Security detachment, civilian mariners from Military Sealift Command, Project Hope, Operation Smile, Project Handclasp, and many others. Additionally, personnel from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, and the Canadian military are assisting.

After the decommissioning of the USS John F. Kennedy and the associated Carrier Strike Group Six staff, DESRON 24, formerly the Surface Warfare element of Carrier Strike Group Six, was tapped to serve as the command element for this unique mission.

DESRON 24 personnel have led the detailed planning of this massive, multi-national, and inter-organizational effort since January of this year.

While this is not a typical mission for a destroyer squadron, the process of integrating numerous assigned detachments and organizations into a single cohesive unit, developing and executing plans in highly dynamic environments, and ensuring the timely and accurate flow of information are some core functions of any destroyer squadron and is what Mayport's DESRON 24 will bring to this mission.

"It's exciting preparing for a deployment of this scale and watching how everything is coming together," said Lt. Cmdr. Rob Speight, acting chief staff officer of DESRON 24. "Coordination is key when there are this many moving parts and countries to visit."

The USNS Comfort is a national asset designed to serve as a floating emergency room, capable of treating massive numbers of combat wounds and performing an impressive array of medical procedures to Soldiers and Sailors evacuated from the front lines.

While the vessel deployed to New York after the 2001 terrorist attacks and to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the 1,000 bed vessel has seen limited service in the Global War on Terror because the Military has been able to maintain advanced medical centers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For this mission, the ship has been outfitted to provide routine medical services on land, ranging from vaccinations and eye care to dental checkups and minor surgeries. It has also received major communications and material upgrades that make the Comfort a much more versatile platform for the 21st century Navy.

The Comfort will visit each of 12 countries for about a week, establishing multiple medical treatment centers in each country.

The goal of this deployment is to leave the people of Central and South America and the Caribbean with a lasting, positive impression of the United States by providing high quality, and, in some cases, life-changing care.

The Comfort's mission is technically a training mission - training American military and civilian personnel to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in a hands-on environment.

The host nations are encouraged to take part in the medical treatment and will also benefit from the training.

In the end, Comfort will have given real-world experience to hundreds of American medical professionals, while providing training and care to tens of thousands of people of our partner nations, certain to have a lasting impact on the people and communities involved.

"This mission is going to improve the way the U.S. is viewed by our neighbors in Central and South America. It will be very rewarding to apply the resources of Comfort to an area where they are truly needed," said Lt. Javier Gonzalez, Operations officer.