Story by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Matthew Jackson

USS Boxer (LHD 4) Public Affairs

SONSONATE, El Salvador – A team of U.S. Army and U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) veterinarians, embarked aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4), worked alongside El Salvador Ministry of Agriculture veterinarians to care for animals in El Salvador’s Sonsonate Region, May 23, in support of Continuing Promise (CP) 2008.

CP is a Humanitarian Civic Assistance (HCA) mission enabling both U.S. and El Salvador medical staffs to collectively address regional medical concerns and develop effective, economical solutions that can be used in the region.

The veterinarian’s goal throughout this mission is to assist local health care providers with livestock, such as cows, goats, chickens, sheep and domestic animals like dogs, cats, birds or any other animal that can transfer infectious diseases.

“Today we’re administering a de-wormer which takes care of internal and external parasites,” said Army veterinarian Capt. (Dr.) Karin Potirus. “We’re also providing vitamin injections and basic medical care such as antibiotics or steroids for animals in need.”

Treating Salvadoran livestock and domestic animals is one of many critical services provided in support of CP’s mission, which focuses on sharing best-practices for the most effective, economical treatments that can be made available by regional medical teams.

“On average we treat approximately 300 animals per day,” said Potirus. “Our goal is to treat as many animals as we can and to learn from the Salvadorans we’re working side-by-side with. Our combined efforts are important because these livestock contribute to the health and well-being of the communities.”

Most livestock in El Salvador serve as either a regular source of food or as income for Salvadoran citizens.  By working with local veterinarian professionals, CP’s service members are working not only working to improve the health of the animals in the region, but also help sustain a healthy and economically prosperous country.

“A big part of our mission is continuing to build on our partnership with El Salvador,” said Potirus. “This mission allows us to challenge ourselves while training, gives us the chance to work with a larger variety of animals than we do in the U.S. and provides preventative medicine and basic herd health care to their livestock because they’re an important part of this community.”

The CP veterinarian team spends each day of the El Salvador visit at farms in the region examining and inoculating the livestock with help from the local farmers.

“The biggest challenge today was catching the cattle and getting them safely into position to be inoculated,” said Army Sgt. Shane Warren, a veterinarian technician. “We had four or five people wrestling with cattle that weighed between 200 and 2,000 pounds, so it was an adrenaline rush everyone shared.”

Despite the language barrier, Salvadoran farmers, El Salvador Ministry of Agriculture workers and CP’s veterinarian team members worked together to accomplish their mission safely.

“We used a lot of hand signals and non-verbal communication to overcome the language barrier,” added Warren. “The greatest experience I’ll take away from this mission is the people we’re working with and the teamwork we executed while working with these animals.”

The veterinarian technicians assigned to CP 2008 are part of a large medical component leading an expeditionary medical team of over 100 specialized health care providers, who will team up with partner-nation counterparts.  Their capabilities include general primary care, dental, optometry, pharmaceutical, preventive medicine and public heath assessments, medical and nursing education, veterinary, and bio-medical equipment repair.

Boxer’s mission exemplifies the U.S. maritime strategy which emphasizes deploying forces to build confidence and trust among nations through collective maritime security efforts that focus on common threats and mutual interests.

Embarked units and organizations aboard Boxer for CP include Amphibious Squadron 5, Fleet Surgical Team 5, U.S. Public Health service, Project Hope, Project Handclasp, Navy Seabee Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303, Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 14, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 764, Tactical Air Control Squadron 11, Special Marine Air Ground Task Force 24, Helicopter Sea Combat Support Squadron 23, Assault Craft Unit 1, Fleet Survey Team, Maritime Civil Affairs Team 205 and Beach Master Unit 1.