Hospital on the way....
PACIFIC OCEAN (June 26, 2019) -- United States Navy Aircrewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class Matt Braaten flies in an MH-60S Seahawk assigned to the hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20).
The huge hospital ship arrived in Manta, Ecuador shortly afterwards....her first stop in a five-month deployment to relieve pressure on Central and South American national medical systems strained by a massive increase in Venezuelan migrants....as they flee the formerly wealthy and oil-rich nation now choking to death on the perils of socialism, dictatorship and corruption.
The MH-60S Seahawk back onboard USNS Comfort as the ship arrived in Manta, Ecuador.
In the months ahead, USNS Comfort and her staff of 1,000 American medical professionals will make humanitarian and medical assistance stops in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis.
The ship and crew should be back home in Norfolk, VA at the end of November, just in time for Thanksgiving.
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>>Top photo: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Morgan K. Nall, USN; Bottom photo: Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Maria G. Llanos, USN
