ESMERALDAS, Ecuador (Oct. 25, 2018) – Medical personnel aboard the hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) perform a hernia repair surgery on a patient. Comfort is on an 11-week medical support mission to Central and South America as part of U.S. Southern Command’s Enduring Promise initiative. Working with health and government partners in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Honduras, the embarked medical team will provide care on board and at land-based medical sites, helping to relieve pressure on national medical systems caused partly by an increase in cross-border migrants. The deployment reflects the United States’ enduring promise of friendship, partnership and solidarity with the Americas. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jacob Waldrop/Released)