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WATC 2004 Gets Underway

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS040720-09
Release Date: 7/20/2004 7:59:00 PM

By Journalist 2nd Class Joseph R. Holstead, Naval Reserve Unit Fleet Hospital Fort Dix Public Affairs

SENEGAL (NNS) -- More than 60 Reserve members of Naval Reserve Unit Fleet Hospital, Fort Dix and other U.S. Navy personnel met their Senegalese counterparts July 19 at a ceremony to kick off the West African Training Cruise (WATC) 2004, a Medical Humanitarian Assistance Program.

WATC 2004 will run through the rest of July and provide medical assistance to the West African nation of Senegal. It will also allow for an exchange of medical knowledge between the two countries.

During the opening ceremony, U.S. Ambassador to Senegal Richard Roth welcomed U.S. and Senegalese personnel, which included Rear Adm. Jerry West, deputy chief, Bureau of Medicine; Col. Madicke Ndao, chief of Senegalese Bureau of Medicine; and Emmanuel-Rene Moise, Senegalese chief of staff to the Minister of Armed Forces.

Fleet Hospital personnel will provide training in three phases.

In the short time the doctors, nurses, dentists, hospital corpsmen and dental technicians of Navy Fleet Hospital Fort Dix are in Senegal, they will visit, along with their Senegalese counterparts, eight villages and treat between 12,000 and 15,000 people as part of the humanitarian assistance program.

"WATC 2004 is a great example of the U.S. commitment to the people of Senegal and other West African nations," said Capt. Philip Landrigan, commanding officer, Naval Reserve Unit Fleet Hospital, Fort Dix and WATC 2004 officer in charge. "It provides military to military training where the learning goes both ways."

"The U.S. personnel provide updates on the latest in American medicine, and the Senegalese health care professionals have a wealth of knowledge to share, particularly when it comes to tropical medicine," Landrigan said.

The WATC 2004 Medical Outreach Program is the land portion of the more than 30 year-old WATC exercise and is a critical part of European Command's security assistance program.