Sailors assigned to Naval Health Clinic Charleston at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, are trained and ready to provide world-class care anywhere, any time.

Although these Sailors provide medical services to active-duty service members, family members, and veterans in a state-of-the art military treatment facility year round, individual Sailors from NHCC also volunteer their skills to serve with joint task forces during peacetime missions around the globe.

In 2016, a group of NHCC Sailors deployed in support of U.S. military forces conducting missions in the U.S. and nations abroad, making a significant impact on the lives of the natives of the lands in which they traveled to serve.

"It's a small, yet meaningful way we can give back," said Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Anton Jordan, purchasing agent for NHCC.

Jordan joined the crew of hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) in April 2016 for a five-month deployment to southeast Asia in support of Pacific Partnership 2016.

Mercy is a hospital on water, where staff provides inpatient and outpatient medical care for host nation citizens on several wards within the ship. When in port, Pacific Partnership personnel worked alongside their counterparts from partnering countries to share knowledge and best practices in disaster response preparedness, humanitarian assistance, medical care, and civil engineering.

As a machinist's mate, Jordan worked on a team providing oxygen for patients during surgeries, and ensuring all of the ship's fixtures and plumbing -- such as showers and toilets -- functioned properly throughout the deployment.

Jordan, from Fort Wayne, Indiana, personally volunteered to participate in community relations events with locals in Timor Leste, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

"When the ship pulls into port, hundreds of local citizens are waiting for care," said Jordan. "It feels great to be able to help these people and to show them Americans do care. In turn, they appreciate our help and seem to really enjoy our company."

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Vanessa Poland experienced appreciation from citizens of partnering nations firsthand while deployed for five months aboard expeditionary fast transport USNS Spearhead (T-EPF 1).

"The locals were so welcoming," said Poland. "We were treated like celebrities."

Poland provided medical support for U.S. military and civilian personnel participating in Africa Partnership Station, an international initiative to improve maritime safety and security in Africa. While deployed on Spearhead, the Carrollton, Texas native traveled to Cameroon, Ghana, Gabon, and Senegal.

The most surprising and inspiring observation Poland made while visiting each area, she said, was even though many of the locals she met lacked the resources we have in the United States, all of them were happy.

"We get this idea that these people are unhappy in their conditions, considering they don't have some of the things we take for granted -- like clean water or infrastructure," said Poland. "But they're very appreciative for what they do have, and they're happy."

Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Anthony Salazar, who deployed early fall with Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 40 and participated in Southern Partnership 2016, said his recent deployment afforded him a lesson in gratitude.

"It was hard seeing everyone with practically nothing and trying to accept that as the norm," said Salazar. "It made me grateful for what I have, and it inspired me to do more to help."

Salazar provided medical support for U.S. Navy Seabees who worked alongside partner nation engineers in El Salvador and Colombia to build and renovate community and personal hygiene centers. His duties included ensuring personnel wore safety equipment and stayed hydrated while working in triple-digit temperatures and tending to injuries. When he wasn't working in a medical capacity, he assisted in construction.

Salazar and fellow U.S. service members were not permitted to venture out into the mainland during certain parts of the deployment, but they were able to meet locals in the areas surrounding their work sites -- some living in homes made of scrap materials with dirt floors. Salazar said helping improve the conditions in these communities was one of the most gratifying aspects of deploying.

"It's rewarding knowing you're going to improve their (the locals') way of life," said Salazar. "You're giving them something that we have total access to in the U.S. and sometimes take for granted, such as a room with air conditioning, sinks and showers, toilets that flush, [and] a sewage system."

"When we provide [locals] with showers, we promote good hygiene and it says to them that we care about their health and wellness," Salazar said. "When we build a community center that can also be used as a place for education, it says to them we want to help your children have a better learning environment. By doing these things, we're saying to our partner nations we are here to bring you happiness and we care about your quality of life."

Salazar said he was moved by the pride of the locals and their leadership who, when the projects were complete, devised ways to protect and secure the newly-built or refurbished facilities, and brainstormed ways to put the structures to good use for their communities.

The biggest challenge of the deployment, said Salazar, was being so far away from his loved ones back home.

"Leaving family for any amount of time is never easy, but the duration of this particular deployment and the reason we were going didn't make it too hard," said Salazar.

Being away from family for an extended period of time, in a country where modern communication is not easily accessible, is always one of the most difficult aspects of any deployment, said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Michael Fletcher, a NHCC career counselor.

Fletcher, a native of Crawfordsville, Indiana, has deployed five times in his 16-year Navy career, including two tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan, and two at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In August, Fletcher augmented the staff of Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay. He served as a radiologic technician, but was also able to become more involved with the command by assisting Sailors as they prepared packages for advanced schooling, teaching classes for enlistment advancement exams, and performing as the acting career counselor while NHGB's career counselor changed duty stations.

"I was able to integrate well within the command, network with fellow [petty officers first class] and [chief petty officers], and mentor some of the junior Sailors," said Fletcher. "I'm really proud I was able to make an impact during such a short time."

Sometimes it is those shorter deployments that are the most profound in a service member's career, said Chief Hospital Corpsman William Neason, an independent duty corpsman and leading chief petty officer for NHCC Medical Home Port.

Like Fletcher, Neason's deployment history also includes tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. But it was this most recent deployment, Neason said, he will most revere from his Navy career.

This past fall, Neason, a native of Edna, Texas, was a member of a team which deployed more than 9,000 miles to Vietnam to recover the remains of prisoners of the Vietnam War and to try and locate service members declared missing in action.

The team's secondary mission was to assist in the excavation of an A-6 Intruder crash site under the direction of an archeologist searching for the remains of the pilot and co-pilot. Although the pilot and co-pilot were never found, remains of a U.S. Soldier were recovered by another team. After attending a repatriation ceremony for the Soldier who had been missing in action for more than 30 years, Neason said he was humbled by the experience.

"I felt honored to be a part of it," said Neason. "We were able to give closure to a family who had waited so long to learn the fate of their loved one. It was surreal knowing after all this time this Soldier was finally going home and would be laid to rest."

Throughout his 20-year career, Neason has rendered emergency medical treatments, assisted in the prevention and treatment of diseases and injuries, cared for the sick and injured, performed preliminary physical examinations, and provided and taught first aid.

He said he knows every time he deploys, there are positives and negatives, regardless of the location, but he also knows the job he performs can be life-saving ... and life-changing.

"I just enjoy the opportunity to travel and experience something I will most likely never experience again," said Neason.

Fletcher echoed Neason's sentiment.

"Whether we're on shore or on a ship, working with Seabees or Navy SEALs, our experiences are adventurous, fun, exciting, and rewarding," said Fletcher. "As Sailors, we learn a broad spectrum of skills and every day we put them to practical use and get opportunities to hone those skills. During a deployment, you use everything you've learned, and when you apply those skills you find out whom you really are and that you really do make a difference."

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