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Advance Coordination Team Smooths Way for Comfort Mission

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS070712-11
Release Date: 7/12/2007 3:04:00 PM

By Lt. Susan Henson, USNS Comfort Public Affairs

PANAMA CITY, Panama (NNS) -- As crew members of Military Sealift Command (MSC) hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) focused on the last two days of operations in Guatemala, a small team of three crew members were heading toward the airport in for a flight to Panama. But they weren’t leaving the ship for good.

As Comfort makes its way around Latin America and the Caribbean on its 120-day humanitarian assistance mission, the ship is met at each port by fellow crew members who are the Advance Coordination Element, or ACE team. The team’s job is to fly into each country three to four days before the ship’s arrival to attend to last minute details.

Team members vary from port to port depending on what needs to be coordinated.

Chief Builder Mark Boice (SCW), a Seabee assigned to Comfort, has been on each ACE team since the start of Comfort’s mission. He was also part of the Pre-Deployment Site Survey (PDSS) team that traveled to each country months before the deployment began. For Boice, it’s a matter of executing a vision that was the result of months of planning, coordination and site surveys.

“Each country represents a new set of challenges and logistical requirements,” said Boice. “Everything from vehicles, force protection, and ship requirements to host nation support must be put in place prior to the ship’s arrival to fully maximize our time spent on the ground providing care.”

The ACE team doesn’t get time to catch up on sleep. They usually start meetings as soon as they reach the country. For example, the team reached their hotel in Panama City around 6:45 p.m. on July 1 and had the first meeting 15 minutes later with host country representatives from the husbanding agent, American Embassy representatives and the Panama Ministry of Health.

The team’s responsibilities include finding the best travel times, routes and transportation between the ship or port and the work sites, receiving the off-load of equipment and supplies upon the ship’s arrival and staging it at all work sites, introducing medical staff to host nation counterparts, and arranging equipment rentals and material procurements.

“Everything happens at a fast pace,” said Cmdr. Sandra Hearn, Panama ACE team lead. “There’s much to coordinate in fine tuning plans that were discussed two months prior to the PDSS trips.”

Part of the Panama ACE team’s tasking was to ensure security measures were in place for the ship’s arrival July 4, to arrange final logistics requirements such as equipment off-load and on-load of supplies, and to arrange final medical and dental site details in Colon.

For example, while previously visiting Guatemala, there was no commercial service available for ferrying people and equipment between the ship and shore. The Guatemala ACE team worked with the port authority and was able to use the port’s worker transit boats.

“It’s vitally important that all security measures meet the requirements of the security plan that was developed 30 days prior to the ship’s arrival to each port” said Lt. James Rachal, ACE team member since the start of Comfort’s mission. “Security of all personnel and the ship is paramount.

Since the team is small, each person has to assume multiple roles in order to coordinate all the ship’s requirements. However, no matter the obstacles they face, the team always finds a solution

The ACE team then meets the ship when it arrives in country and immediately briefs the staff on what final plans were made.

“The ACE team debrief is important because it gives the crew an idea of the plans agreed upon with the host nation and the USNS Comfort,” said Hearn.

Once the Panama ACE team was back aboard, the mission started in full swing. All the while, the next ACE team for Nicaragua is already making plans to depart in just a few days.