Haiti bound!

Mission Commander, CAPT Bob Lineberry, here again with another update!

Underway from Miami, enjoyable and productive two days spent loading personnel and additional supplies. Departed Miami with 906 team mates--more on that later. During our stay we had the honor and pleasure to host a luncheon onboard COMFORT for the U.S. Southern Command staff that included the Military Deputy Commander and Civilian Deputy Commander, Lt Gen Spears and Ambassador Trivelli. In addition, we had numerous Non-Governmental Organizations friends enjoy this event followed by a NGO roundtable session to discuss future partnering opportunities. Partnering with these organizations has been essential for the success of the CONTINUING PROMISE mission, we will continue to reach out and add new friends and colleagues to enhance our humanitarian capabilities.
Just days away from beginning our mission in Haiti, the excitement and energy onboard COMFORT is on the rise as we make final preparations of the medical and engineering services planned. Our planning team spends the day gathering information from our advance coordination team in Haiti turning that into an actionable efforts by a combined team of professionals from numerous organizations from around the world:
U.S. Navy: 636
U.S. Army: 31
U.S. Air Force: 61
U.S. Marines: 3
U.S. Coast Guard: 4
Civilian Mariners: 68
NGO Partners: 53
International Partners: 19 (Canada, Chile, France, The Netherlands)
Civilians: 14
U.S. Public Health Service: 12
Host Nation Professionals: 5
Total: 906

Looking forward to someone writing us a note telling us what you think of the CONTINUING PROMISE mission this year.

Spanish translation follows:

Martes, 7 de Abril, 2009
En rumbo a Haiti!

Comandante de misión, CAPT Lineberry Bob, aquí de nuevo con otra actualización! En rumbo desde Miami, hemos pasado dos días agradables y productivos recibiendo personal y suministros adicionales. Salimos de Miami con 906 personas - más sobre eso luego. Durante nuestra estadía tuvimos el honor y el placer de ser anfitrión de un almuerzo a bordo del COMFORT para el personal del Comando Sur de los EE.UU., que incluye el Subcomandante Militar y Subcomandante Civil, Teniente General Spears y el Embajador Trivelli. Adicionalmente, tuvimos numerosos amigos de Organizaciones No- Gubernamentales que disfrutaron de este evento. El almuerzo fue seguido por una junta de organizaciones no gubernamentales para discutir oportunidades para trabajar juntos en el futuro. La asociación con estas organizaciones ha sido fundamental para el éxito de la misión PROMESA CONTINUA, seguiremos trabajando para añadir nuevos amigos y colegas para mejorar nuestra capacidad humanitaria.
Estamos a pocos días de comenzar nuestra misión en Haití, y la emoción y la energía a bordo del COMFORT va en aumento a medida que se hacen los preparativos finales para los servicios médicos e ingenieros previstos. Nuestro equipo de planificación pasa el día recopilando información de nuestro equipo de coordinación en Haití y convierte esta información en un plan de acción llevado a cabo por un equipo de profesionales de numerosas organizaciones del mundo entero:

Armada de E.E.U.U.: 636
Ejército de E.E.U.U.: 31
Fuerza Aérea de E.E.U.U.: 61
Infantería de Marina de E.E.U.U. : 3
Guarda Costas de E.E.U.U.: 4
Marinos Mercantes: 68
Compañeros de Organizaciones No-Gubernamentales: 53
Compañeros Internacionales: 19 (Canada / Canada, Chile / Chile, France / Francia, The Paises Bajos)
Civiles: 14
Servicio de Salud Pública de E.E.U.U.: 12
Profesionales del país anfitrión: 5
Total: 906
Esperamos atentamente recibir notas diciéndonos que piensan de la misión PROMESA CONTINUA de este año.

Greetings from Comfort's Commanding Officer

"Greetings from the USNS Comfort Hospital Ship, sailing off the Atlantic coast of Florida on our way to the Caribbean and beyond. I am Captain J. J. Ware, USN, DC, the Commanding Officer for Hospital Comfort, a team of international Medical Professionals that will be conducting the Medical Humanitarian efforts during Continuing Promise 2009 in coordination with our Central and South American Partner Nations.

This International Medical Humanitarian Mission has been in the planning stages for over 10 months with advanced medical teams traveling to all seven of our host nations. During that time, Pre Deployment medical teams coordinated through the American Embassies in each country, have worked hand-in-hand with each Nation's Ministry of Health. These teams have developed a tailor-made medical, dental and veterinarian plan to foster professional exchange and assist in medical care.

Continuing Promise 2009's mission is focused on developing and enhancing lasting professional medical relationships in each of the countries we visit, while providing safe, quality medical care. To this end, our medical goal is to bring relief and hope to those in need while building professional partnerships with the local medical communities who will be working side by side with us each and everyday.

During this mission, Hospital Comfort will have over 1300 medical personnel rotating to the ship in different ports-of-call, providing multi-discipline care in a wide variety of specialty areas. Hospital Comfort will utilize 4-8 operating rooms on-board the ship, providing surgical care in pediatric and adult general surgery, orthopedic surgery, ophthalmology, urology, ENT, Maxillo-facial, OB/GYN with accompanying diagnostic specialty capabilities in Radiology (to include Interventional Radiology), Laboratory, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Optometry, and Dental services. We will also bring with us onboard Hospital Comfort, an extensive expertise in the area of medical equipment services and repair to assist in each country as needed.

Professional medical, dental and nursing exchange programs will also be another focused ambition for our mission. We hope to partner with the host nation Medical, Dental and Nursing schools and local professional organizations in each country to come together in the spirit of humanitarian cooperation, to exchange professional knowledge. These sharing opportunities will go a long way in developing understanding and respect amongst the multiple nations involved with our mission.

We have already pre-screened hundreds of potential surgical patients in each country, using local medical communities to channel prospective patients into our diagnostic and treatment system.

The real strength of the Medical staff on Hospital Comfort is the diverse group of national and international health professional who will be coming together from all over the Globe to make this medical expedition possible.

Non-Government Organizations from across America have volunteered to support this mission. I expect to meet and integrate into this hospital ship over 350 Civilian Humanitarian Medical Volunteers from all corners of our country who have unselfishly donated time and travel expenses to support this effort. The fact is thousands of professionals volunteered and unfortunately the 1000 bed capacity for staff on the ship became a limiting factor in how many we could take with us. Fortunately we have another 500 beds available for patients and guardians/escorts.

Project Hope, a leading organization for humanitarian assistance world-wide, will have 140 volunteers serving in multiple capacities. Operation Smile will focus their expertise in the treatment of cleft lip and cleft palate surgery and will bring 4 international teams to the mission. The University of California San Diego (UCSD) Pre-Dental Society will provide a wide spectrum of humanitarian volunteers (approximately 140) to support the mission. The Church of Later-Day Saints will provide nurses and multi-task helpers in support. Food For The Poor, and international relief organization, and the International Rotary organization have volunteered to provide patient transporters, translators and other support as needed to facilitate this mission.

Internationally, the countries of Canada, The Netherlands, Chile, France, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia, Antigua Barbuda, Dominican Republic and Haiti will provide expert medical personnel in their field to support this four month humanitarian mission on board Hospital Comfort.

The United States will have a large active duty U.S. Navy component (400+), U. S. Navy Reservists component (210 personnel), Army National Guard and Reserve (240 personnel), U.S. Air Force (52 full-time personnel), US Coast Guard (6 personnel) and U.S. Public Health Services (50+ personnel). This is truly a joint medical mission and would not have been possible without support from all the Department of Defense services who have contributed manpower to this Southern Command initiative.

In the days and weeks to come, I look forward to sharing with you our efforts and success in the medical arena, as we build bridges with our neighbors to the south."

We've Departed!

(Abajo se encuentra la traducción en español. )

What a great day!

USNS COMFORT and CONTINUING PROMISE 09 started exactly as planned today and the team is ready to put all the hard work and effort to good use. It’s a very rewarding feeling to see all the efforts and planning finally come together for what I know will be a very successful mission.

Would like to thank Capt Tom Finger, the Master, and all the civilian merchant mariners for their dedication and team spirit. Without them we would not be able to sail this great ship and take this immense capability to the region.

Our next stop in Miami, will be a great opportunity for us to showcase our mission before we depart for Haiti. Many distinguished visitors and partners will be coming aboard to learn about our mission and visit with the team that makes all this happen.

Today we proudly announced our first Person of the Day onboard COMFORT, YN1 Angela Robbins, ADMIN LPO who has been essential in her duties and leadership in effectively processing hundreds of service members over the last week as we prepared for CP09.

Spanish translation follows:

Viernes, 3 de abril de 2009
Hemos Partido!

Qué gran día! El USNS COMFORT and PROMESA CONTINUA 09 empezó exactamente como se planeo y el equipo está listo para trabajar. Es bien gratificante ver que todo el esfuerzo y planeamiento dará fruto a una misión exitosa.

Nos gustaría agradecer al Capitán Tom Finger, el Maestro, y los civiles de la marina mercante por su dedicación que refleja el espíritu de equipo. Sin ellos no hubiéramos sido capaces de navegar este barco por la región.

Nuestra próxima parada en Miami será una gran oportunidad para nosotros demostrar el propósito de nuestra misión antes de partir para Haití. Habrán muchos personas distinguidas que bordaran para aprender acerca de nuestra misión y visitar el equipo que hará posible la misión.

Hoy anunciamos con orgullo nuestra primera “Persona del Día” en el COMFORT: es YN1 Ángela Robbins, “Petty Officer” Primera Clase encargada de la sección administrativa del barco. Ella ha excedido en sus tareas y su liderazgo, y ha ayudado en la efectividad del procesamiento de cientos de miembros militares en la última semana en preparación para CP09.

Welcome to Continuing Promise 09

Hello!

I’m CAPT Bob Lineberry and I'm honored to be the Mission Commander for this incredible opportunity to work with a combined team of professionals to conduct our Humanitarian and Civic Assistance (HCA) mission. The team is comprised of Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard service members, along with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), Interagency partners and health care professionals from 12 other countries.

Just like in 2007, this year the team deploys on USNS COMFORT. We are currently in Norfolk, Virginia loading personnel and cargo and getting ready for our four-month deployment which begins 1 April. We will be visiting seven countries as we conduct our HCA mission and gain valuable experience working with our partners and friends. From here we head for Miami, Florida to meet the rest of the team, which consists of our numerous NGO partners, and take the opportunity to meet with the U.S. Southern Command staff to mission specifics.

The team will need to form quickly to execute this complex and challenging mission. Two huge standouts have been LCDR Danielle Wooten, Director for Administration within the hospital staff onboard COMFORT. Danielle and her staff take care of all the new check-ins, keep their records straight, get them bedding, berthing, etc. No small task. Another two of our heroes have been Capt Joe Lindsey, USMC, Cargo Officer and Gunnery Sergeant Roberts, USMC, Assistant Cargo Officer. These gents and their team worked long hours to get the tons and tons of cargo safely onboard. We have many other superstars to introduce throughout the mission and you’ll hear from them too.

I look forward to reading your thoughts and comments about this year’s mission. Check back here for more updates as the mission goes along. Our outstanding public affairs team will make sure you keep up on all the progress of the mission at www.southcom.mil/continuingpromise2009, and I’ll be adding posts on this blog. frequently.

Coming soon!

Welcome to the official blog of the Continuing Promise '09 mission!

This blog will highlight the experiences of the USNS Comfort crew and support teams, as well as the patients and their families that are treated onboard. Postings will be in both English and native languages of the host countries visited. Join us in reading the postings in support of this unique and important mission.

During the 120-day mission it will visit Antigua and Barbuda, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Panama to conduct medical, dental, veterinary and engineering assistance programs afloat and ashore, in response to host nation requests and requirements. Military members and civilians from the United States, as well as Canada, Chile, France, the Netherlands and Spain will work together with humanitarian and other non-governmental agencies and with host nation medical and engineering personnel, each bringing their own knowledge and experiences together in a joint venture to learn from each other and assist those in need.

The blog will contain photos, stories, videos and other items throughout the next few weeks. Check back for more postings as Continuing Promise '09 progresses. In the meantime, check out http://www.southcom.mil/continuingpromise2009 for information on Continuing Promise, the region, and anything else you might be interested in learning about our upcoming mission.