Photo By Grady Fontana | Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Jasper Ramos, Reserve Unit Military Sealift Command Far...... read more read more
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Members of the Military Sealift Command (MSC) Far East visited a learning center of the Human Help Network Foundation to interact with children during a community outreach event in Pattaya, Thailand, Feb. 22, during the 43rd iteration of the Cobra Gold exercise.
The learning center is a non-governmental organization and hosts about 85 children a day from neighboring nations, whose parents are day laborers in the Kingdom of Thailand.
Military Sealift Command (MSC) Far East deployed a team of Reservist from various Expeditionary Port Units (EPU) in support of exercise Cobra Gold.
The team is part of the Cobra Gold deploy detachment that assisted with the arrival of MSC chartered ship MV Cape Horn (T-AKR 5068) at Sattahip, Thailand, to offload equipment for CG24.
EPU members conduct expeditionary port operations in support of worldwide operations and contingencies. During CG24, the EPU’s role was to ensure that proper contacts were made at the shipping port, to direct the ship on berthing, and to prepare for the ship’s arrival.
After MV Cape Horn successfully completed the discharge for CG24, and during a lull in operations, the MSC team visited the Learning Center to interact with local children.
“I work at a children’s hospital at home, so I see kids all the time; however, this is my first time in Thailand,” said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Jasper Ramos, Reserve-component Sailor with MSC Far East, Navy Reserve Center Alameda, California. “These types of interactions are very fun and easy for everyone and it has the ability to cross cultural barriers. At the same time, it instills their trust in us.”
According to Lana Lam, a full-time Thai national volunteer, the children always get excited to see visitors.
“You can see how happy they are from their big smiles,” said Lam. “Here, you see them running to the Sailors and giving them big hugs.”
The service members laughed and cheered with the children while playing games, coloring, dancing and sharing language exchanges.
“It’s just good to see kids being kids. It’s also nice for the kids to see that people care for them outside of this center,” said Ramos, of Lathrop, California. “I don’t think they really see tourists or foreigners here too often. It’s rewarding being a part in these kids’ day. Maybe, if they are going through a hard time, we can make it lighter.”
After lunch and an impressive English language demonstration by the kids, the MSC team departed with a sense of deep satisfaction.
Established in 1982 as a bilateral maritime exercise between the United States and Thailand, Cobra Gold has expanded throughout the past four decades to include other countries, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. The event is the longest-running international exercise in the world, a fact that exercise leadership attributes to a long-standing history of cooperation and enduring partnerships.
CG24 emphasizes coordination on readiness, civic action, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and seeks to expand regional cooperation and collaboration in these vital areas.
MSC directs and supports operations for approximately 140 civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships at sea, conduct specialized missions, preposition combat cargo at sea around the world, perform a variety of support services, and move military equipment and supplies to deployed U.S. forces.
Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2024, MSC exists to support the joint warfighter across the full spectrum of military operations, with a workforce that includes approximately 6,000 Civil Service Mariners and 1,100 contract mariners, supported by 1,500 shore staff and 1,400 active duty and Reserve military personnel.
MSC Far East supports the U.S. 7th Fleet and ensures approximately 50 ships in the Indo-Pacific Region are manned, trained, and equipped to deliver essential supplies, fuel, cargo, and equipment to warfighters, both at sea and on shore. U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
| Date Taken: | 02.22.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.13.2024 21:33 |
| Story ID: | 466146 |
| Location: | PATTAYA, TH |
| Web Views: | 78 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Military Sealift Command Visits ‘Learning Center’ Kids during Cobra Gold 2024, by Grady Fontana, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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