Sept. 23, 2019

Comfort Strengthens Partnership with Grenada Following Successful Medical Mission

During Comfort’s six-day medical mission in St. George’s, 800 medical professionals of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and U.S. Public Health Service alongside eight partner nations, provided care for 5,060 patients at two separate shore-based medical sites and performed 96 surgeries aboard the ship.

Sept. 16, 2019

Comfort Begins Medical Services in Grenada

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada – Senior leadership from the hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) alongside partner and host nation representatives attended an opening ceremony to mark the beginning of the ship’s seventh medical mission stop in St. George’s, Grenada, Sept. 15.

July 31, 2019

Comfort Departs Costa Rica Following Closing Ceremony

The hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) held its closing ceremony at Gimnasio el Coloso de Barranca symbolizing the completion of the hospital ship’s third medical mission in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, July 27.

July 11, 2019

Southcom Chief Stresses Need for Partnerships, Security Cooperation

External states are working hard to get a foothold in South America, and they want to exert even greater influence there than they already do. Strong partnerships are the way to counter that effort, the commander of U.S. Southern Command said in a Senate hearing.

June 17, 2019

Florida Guard unit completes mission at Exercise Tradewinds 2019

Over the past two weeks, Soldiers from the Florida Army National Guard's 54th Security Force Assistance Brigade teamed up with allies from throughout the Caribbean as part of U.S. Southern Command's exercise Tradewinds to bolster Caribbean defense capacity and strengthen regional ties. For the Soldiers of the FLARNG 54th SFAB, this marked their first overseas unit mobilization in the unit's history.

June 15, 2019

Hospital Ship USNS Comfort Departs Norfolk for Medical Mission

The U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) left from Naval Station Norfolk, June 14, to begin its deployment to South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. During its deployment, Comfort will provide medical assistance in support of regional partners and in response to the regional impacts of the Venezuela political and economic crisis.

June 10, 2019

Hospital Ship to Depart Norfolk for Medical Mission

The U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) deploys from Naval Station Norfolk on Friday, June 14 at 8 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. During its five-month deployment, Comfort will provide medical assistance in support of regional partners and in response to the regional impacts of the Venezuela political and economic crisis.  While deployed, Comfort will conduct mission stops in Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago.

May 15, 2019

Southern Partnership Station 2019 Begins

The U.S. Navy has deployed adaptive force packages (AFPs) in support of Southern Partnership Station (SPS) 2019 to the Caribbean, Central and South America to conduct subject matter expert exchanges from May to October 2019.

May 8, 2019

Navy Hospital Ship Deploying to Help Venezuelan Refugees

The U.S. is sending a hospital ship to aid in the refugee crisis resulting from instability in Venezuela. At the annual Washington Conference on the Americas at the State Department, Vice President Mike Pence announced the Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort will deploy to the U.S. Southern Command area of operations next month.

April 24, 2019

State Dept. Blog: Enhancing U.S. Cooperation with the Caribbean

On April 12, I had the honor of leading an interagency team of United States senior officials and experts to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) headquarters in Miami, Florida, where I hosted ministers and disaster management officials from 18 Caribbean countries, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, and the Regional Security System to launch the new “U.S.-Caribbean Resilience Partnership.