The answer to the first question is pragmatic and banal. HOPE used to have its own ship. In fact it started using it 50 years ago this year, beginning in SE Asia and then moving along the Pacific coast of Central and South America. It got too old and expensive; HOPE let it go and became land-lubbers with long-term capacity building programs. There are many such HOPE programs around the world, some conventional healthcare and development programs; others very out of the ordinary. HOPE is currently completing the building and staffing of a Children’s Hospital in Basrah, Iraq. It has even taken on the training of nurses and other clinical staff, in what I consider to be a model method; the subject of a future article.

Project HOPE has always had a hankering to return to its seaborne roots and the US Navy has provided the means and much more. They provide what an NGO needs to survive and work in a hostile environment, security, logistics and communications. Much the same as the military provides NGOs in CIMIC operations the world over.

Given the essential political/military nature of these missions, NGOs like HOPE don’t get much of a voice at the table when it comes to deciding where to go or for how long to stay. But that need not be a deterrent to joining. With planning and forethought, NGOs with long-term interests in a specific geographic area can capitalize on the Navy’s presence. Operation SMILE used the COMFORT mission in Latin America to obtain logistic support, communications and clinical resources for surgery and post operative care in a number of countries. The US Navy shared in the kudos of this unique service and a number of Navy medical staff both learned and taught local healthcare workers.

Project HOPE used the journey for similar purposes; to conform to military argot, I called it ‘armed reconnaissance’. We deployed teams of healthcare Volunteers who undertook an array of clinical and teaching roles in concert with their Navy counterparts. At the same time we used this work to create relationships with the MOHs, local NGOs and civil society and to identify new long-term capacity building training and education projects for HOPE. We have potential new projects in Panama and a number of other Latin American countries at this time.

The preplanned, ‘cold’ Humanitarian Affairs mission of the COMFORT/MERCY type, also provides a medium for the thousands of volunteers from all over the US and beyond, who want contribute their time and there expertise but only have a little of the first. Many are willing to give a few weeks of their time to provide what HOPE is looking for, expert teaching and training of healthcare skills in under-served regions of the world. The HOPE/US Navy partnership provides a relatively uncomplicated means for these individuals to serve. Vitally, in an era of the All-Volunteer Military, it also offers a chance for civilians to experience and perhaps understand a little of military life.