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BELIZE CITY, Belize - A U.S. Air Force major is taking advantage of an opportunity to interact with the Belizean people and learn about their culture as she's deployed in support of New Horizons 2014 in Belize, Central America.
Maj. S. Kellie Williams, an international health specialist, is the New Horizons Expeditionary Medical Operations Squadron deputy commander, a role that puts her at the heart of U.S. medical coordination with Belizean medical officials.
New Horizons is an annual event coordinated amongst U.S. Department of Defense service members, the U.S. Embassy and the host nation government to conduct civil engineer and medical training. The training benefits U.S. forces as they are offered an opportunity to practice deployment and joint training procedures.
As the deputy commander, she is responsible for relaying the EMDOS commander's intent to all U.S. medical operations at each of the New Horizon's medical readiness training exercise sites throughout the country of Belize.
This is the second consecutive year New Horizons has reached Belize and Williams' first time in the country; but as a major with 23 years of experience, 10 of those years as an enlisted service member, it's not the first time Williams has supported humanitarian operations.
Williams previously served in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, in 2011.
"The mission was very interesting. We were working with the Congolese surgeon general and Army to develop a mobile surgical capability," she said. "Because of the sheer size of the country and the civil conflict on the borders of the Congo, the soldiers who got wounded couldn't travel on roads that didn't exist.
"We essentially showed them how to provide in-transit care from a conflict to a medical facility, ultimately saving soldiers' lives," she explained.
Her experiences in Belize, however, differ entirely from her experiences in Africa.
"In this instance, we are working with regional ministers of health and going into those communities to build collaborative relationships. The reach of New Horizons gives the Belizean and U.S. efforts a bigger footprint. Because of the country's smaller size, we're able to make a greater impact," Williams said. "That, and our interoperability is also incredible. It allows us to see how our sister services, as well as the Belizean medical professionals, operate."
Williams is currently stationed at Air Forces Southern in Davis-Monthan, Ariz., and her previous deployment experience also includes one year serving in Iraq.
While all of her experiences have offered an opportunity for both personal and professional growth, she said, deploying to assist countries with bettering the care provided to the nation's people are the most rewarding, and there is always something to learn from host nation experts.
The best thing about this is "the opportunity to interact with our host nation partners and further develop our relationships," Williams said.
"As an international health specialist, this is what we do – collaborating with host nations to build capacity and develop future relationships," Williams said. "Understanding different cultures is imperative, so expanding on this will help me to better be able to do my job."
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 04.04.2014 16:50 |
| Story ID: | 124384 |
| Location: | BELIZE CITY, BZ |
| Hometown: | COLUMBIA, MO, US |
| Web Views: | 126 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Air Force major deploys to support Belizean, US medical training, by 1st Lt. Kali Gradishar, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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