Overview:

Scheduled to last 75 days, New Horizons Guyana includes two major construction projects, one school remodeling and eight medical events where U.S. military medical personnel will treat thousands of patients in the vicinity of Georgetown.  New Horizons Guyana is sponsored by U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and led by Air Forces Southern (12^th Air Force).

Humanitarian services provided:

CONSTRUCTION/REMODELING PROJECTS: Two construction projects will take place simultaneously during the fast-paced exercise. To guarantee completion of all projects in the time allotted, Guyanese contractors were hired to pour concrete foundations prior to the start of the exercise.

New clinic in La Pentinence: The $350,000 clinic structure will be 30 feet by 90 feet and consist of four examination rooms, an office, a waiting room and bathroom. Since there is a shortage of doctors in the region, a tele-medicine capability is being added as well, allowing nurses in La Pentinence to contact doctors in other areas via teleconference to receive diagnoses and prescription orders.

New school house in Bel Air: The school will be used for teaching kindergarten-aged children. The $230,000 structure is 30 feet by 60 feet, consisting of a main classroom, kitchen, and bathrooms.

School house renovation in Timehri:  This is a renovation of a school constructed during a previous New Horizons mission. Additionally, both schools will be receiving new playground equipment.

MEDICAL SERVICES: U.S. military health care professionals are scheduled to conduct five Medical Readiness Training Exercises (MEDRETEs) and three Dental Readiness Training Exercises (DENTRETEs) at sites throughout Guyana.  During the MEDRETEs, U.S. medical troops will provide free general and specialized medical and dental services to thousands of citizens requiring care. 

Deploying U.S. forces:

About 150-200 U.S. troops will be in Guyana at any one time during the exercise.  The majority of the U.S. service members involved are from National Guard and Reserve units from all the services and will deploy for short periods of time, not including long-term staff. 

Background:

New Horizons is an annual series of joint and combined humanitarian assistance exercises that U.S. Southern Command conducts in Latin American and Caribbean nations.  Typically, New Horizons exercises last several months, providing much needed services and infrastructure, while giving deployed U.S. military forces invaluable training. These exercises generally take place in rural, underprivileged areas. The projects create a unique opportunity for the U.S. and partnering nations to work side-by-side to refine the skills of their militaries’ engineers, medical personnel, and support staff through quality of life projects.

Since New Horizons began in the mid-1980s, U.S. troops have deployed annually for the exercise to construct schools, clinics, and water wells. At the same time, Medical Readiness Training Exercises (MEDRETEs)  involving teams consisting of military doctors, nurses and dentists, provide general and specialized health services to host nation citizens requiring care.

The New Horizon series is just one of many sponsored by SOUTHCOM.  Similar efforts, like this year’s Beyond the Horizon 2009 exercise and the deployment of the hospital ship USNS Comfort, are providing humanitarian services in nations throughout the region.