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NEPMU-6 Sailors Return from Deployment

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS050907-05
Release Date: 9/7/2005 9:21:00 AM

By Journalist 2nd Class Corwin Colbert, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) -- The last three Sailors from Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit (NEPMU) 6 on deployment returned here Aug. 29.

The deployment was a humanitarian assistance mission to the Marshall Islands.

The deployed team included Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Orville Nolen and Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Renato Ngo, in conjunction with 1,200 Sailors aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4), the local government and the local Environmental Protection Agency.

The team performed many environmental assessments to aid in the control or elimination of volatile bacteria and diseases and improve quality of life for Marshall Islands citizens.

Some of the assessments the unit conducted were water quality, soil samples and air filter tests.

“It was an entomology mission,” said Lt. Cmdr. Duane Eggert, assistant officer in charge. “We were spraying pesticides and checking the mosquito population."

"It is important to prevent or contain diseases such as Dengue fever and Malaria,” continued Eggert.

Nolen said they also wanted to make sure the water was potable and drinkable.

“We obtained soil samples from dump sites to test for chemicals that may be harmful if it ended up in a water supply and tested the air for harmful emissions from the diesel-fuel power plant,” he said.

Before going to the Marshall Islands, the unit had earlier in the year aided in tsunami relief and supported coalition efforts in Iraq.

According to the officer in charge of NEPMU6, NEPMUs are unique. Capt. Gail Hathaway explained that the Navy is the only service that has separate preventive medicine units. The other services assign preventive medicine physicians to each battalion. Because Navy’s preventive medicine units are separate and located strategically around the world, they are able to respond to many humanitarian disasters.

Despite many deployments to different countries, NEPMU’s main mission is not humanitarian relief, but rather protecting service members from potential hazardous viruses, bacteria, and biological and chemical warfare agents.

“When we do assessments in a different country, it’s a win-win situation,” said Ngo. "We help the locals as well as protect our Sailors."