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News | July 7, 2021

JTF-Bravo civil affairs team participates in Global Health Engagement

By Capt. Annabel Monroe Joint Task Force-Bravo Public Affairs

Civil Affairs Team (CAT) 4745 from Detachment 478, Delta Company, Joint Task Force-Bravo (JTF-B), Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, participated in a Global Health Engagement with local leaders and medical providers in the department of Colón, June 29-July 1.

During the mission, the civil affairs team performed key leader engagements and immersions with JTF-B’s forward surgical section, medical and veterinary teams, while U.S. military and Honduran medical teams performed primary care, preventive medicine, dental, pharmacy, general surgery and veterinary services for residents of Colón.

The four-person civil affairs team, made up of U.S. Army Capt. Robert Femia, CAT 4745 team chief, U.S. Army Sgt. Timothy Warren, team sergeant, U.S. Army Sgt. Macrina Juarez, team medic, and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Cesar Medina, team sergeant and translator, engages with the local community on a regular basis.

The CAT met with Dr. Mariana Fonseca, deputy director at the Salvador Paredes Hospital, and visited the HIV Integral Care Center built through the U.S. Southern Command’s  (USSOUTHCOM) Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP).

These HAP projects help partner nations build disaster readiness, response and mitigation capabilities and funds infrastructure, equipment and training. The HIV community center is approximately 50 percent complete and will improve conditions to support the Honduran people.

“These HAP projects and Global Health Engagements are a great opportunity for organizations like the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, the Honduran FEMA-equivalent agency, Comisión Permanente de Contingencias (COPECO), and JTF-B to work together,” said Medina. “These organizations each have additional networks, with other government agencies and non-government organizations, that we will be able to work with synergistically.”

Members of JTF-B are committed to maintaining strong collaborative bonds with our partners in Central America, with USSOUTHCOM’s direct support to the training and readiness of partner nations’ military and civilian health systems through Global Health Engagements.

“Building these relationships and continuing to foster these relationships ensures that partnerships are built for follow-up missions or in case the need for humanitarian missions arises,” said Medina. “We’re grateful to be a part of the community and to help in any way we can.”

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