GOODWILL MISSION — Chaplain (U.S. Air Force Lt. Col.) Gary Garvey from the 506th Air Expeditionary Group gets his thumb held by a curious infant during a visit to a local village near Kirkuk, Iraq. Airmen and soldiers delivered several loads of donated boxed goods sent from the United States. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Alicia Sarkkinen
Story Number: NNS031231-02
Release Date: 1/2/2004 10:14:00 AM
By Journalist 3rd Class Jason Trevett, Commander, Amphibious Group 3 Public Affairs
SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Sailors of Fleet Surgical Team (FST) 7 returned home in November from a medical assistance operation in the Southwest Pacific island country of East Timor. The team performed 30 surgeries and treated more than 2,000 men, women and children, some of whom were in desperate need of medical and dental care.
During their four-day trip in country, the team set up a medical clinic and treated patients in the cities of Metinaro and Dili, East Timor’s capital.
Typical cases included tuberculosis, malnutrition and poor dental hygiene. More than 200 dental extractions and several cases of abscesses and burns were treated.
“I think that the we left a lasting impact on the lives of the people we treated in East Timor,” said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Scott Wilson, 32, a native of New Orleans. “One of the things that I will never forget is how grateful they were for whatever we could do to help them.”
The medical unit was augmented from members of Fleet Surgical Teams 1, 3 and 9 to provide advanced medical capabilities for the USS Essex (LHD 2) Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) deployed in the area. Some of those individuals that were augmented had only recently returned home from Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“The rapid tasking, recruitment and deployment of the seven-member augmentation of FST 7 was put together in 10 days by Amphibious Group 3’s medical officer,” said Lt. Cmdr. George Linville, FST 7’s officer in charge. “I’m proud of the team and I’m happy to say it was a model for flexibility and adaptability, [principles that] Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Vernon Clark outlines in Sea Power 21.”
The augmented FST 7 Sailors completed all the training and workups for the ARG and the medical department and simultaneously inventoried, organized, and trained the surgical division to 100 percent compliance. The medical department performed 48 surgical procedures aboard to contribute to the operational readiness of the Essex ARG and 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), both based in Japan.
The embarked 31st MEU initiated the civil assistance program after the USS Essex arrived in East Timor. The Marines rebuilt several schools and provided training to the country’s fledgling army while the medical team set out to lend aid to the country’s people.
“It was challenging to care for people who spoke a different language, but big smiles and an expression of kindness went a long way in earning the trust of the children we treated,” said Wilson, the surgical team’s operating room technician.
One operation was performed to remove a large cyst that was developing in the throat of one of the patients.
“Some of the patients we saw in Metinaro had to walk for two days to be seen by us,” said Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Stevenson, the team’s operating room nurse. “With all the problems the people had, we could only do so much. I would go back there in a heartbeat, if the opportunity arose to help out.”
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