ESMERALDAS, Ecuador (Oct. 25, 2018) Dr. John Jarstead, an ophthalmologist from the University of Missouri, performs cataract surgery on a patient in an operating room aboard the hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20). 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 Kris R. Lindstrom/Released)