Photo By Staff Sgt. Kyle Alvarez | U.S. Army soldier engages with local villagers while they wait to be seen by the...... read more read more
Subscribe
More than 170 Burkinabe adults and children were treated by a Burkinabe Army doctor and local healthcare providers during a Medical Civil Action Program event February 25, 2019 at a small village outside of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
The event was a multinational effort. U.S., Moroccan and Beninese soldiers assisted in logistical efforts so that every villager was treated during the event. In addition, they helped hand out medical supplies to the villagers.
The MEDCAP was held as part of Flintlock 2019, U.S. Africa Command’s premier special operations forces and law enforcement exercise in Africa.
Prior to the MEDCAP, several partner nations during participated in medical training which has real world applications. The training leading up to the MEDCAP allowed the Burkinabe to take lead for the event. The Moroccan and Beninese soldiers, with their new medical training, were able to assist the Burkinabe soldiers to bring aid to the local villagers and apply the training they were taught during the Flintlock exercise.
“Building that relationship between the local military and community is incredibly important,” said the Civil Affairs team leader, who assisted the local Burkinabe during the MEDCAP. “If the local community and military have a good relationship they will be more likely to discuss issues within the local community with their military, or security forces. That confidence with the local security forces can stabilize the region.”
Bringing the tools to create a safe, stable and secure region are the goals of Flintlock 2019. It creates a platform where Western and African partners can come together to train with each other, share knowledge, and take that experience to their respective countries.
“Benin and Morocco had the opportunity to help set up the MEDCAP and understand the inner workings of it,” the team leader said. “Now, they have hands on experience working with another country’s villagers, village chief and local healthcare providers. So, they can take that tool back to their own country with them and if they conduct a MEDCAP in their own country or deploy to another country then they can take the example here and improve upon it.”
This MEDCAP event highlights how all participating partner nations can apply the lessons learned from the training and take these experiences back to their countries and become a better military. Cooperation between countries during Flintlock is important to becoming a stronger unified front against the battles of today.
Similar MEDCAP events were held near Flintlock training locations in Po and Lumbilia, Burkina Faso and Atar, Mauritania.
| Date Taken: | 02.25.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 02.27.2019 14:09 |
| Story ID: | 312136 |
| Location: | BF |
| Web Views: | 245 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Flintlock 2019 Brings Medical Treatment to Local Villagers, by SSG Kyle Alvarez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT