The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) arrived in Belize April 9, the first scheduled stop as part of the Continuing Promise 2015 (CP-15) mission.

Continuing Promise is a collaborative effort between the United States and partner militaries, non-governmental organizations and partner-nation support organizations to conduct civil-military operations including humanitarian and civic assistance, as well as veterinary, medical, dental and civil engineering support to send a strong message of compassion, support and commitment to Central and South America and the Caribbean.

"We are looking forward to working hand-in-hand with our partners in Belize on many common interests," said Capt. Sam Hancock, CP-15 mission commander. "By working together and sharing best practices, we can help address many concerns common to the region, while also demonstrating our commitment to fostering a lasting partnership."

While in Belize, the civilian and military personnel aboard Comfort will partner with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Belize Defence Force, and the Belize Coast Guard to share and build capability through medical, dental, engineering,
and veterinary events and subject matter expert exchanges.

As part of the events scheduled for Belize, USNS Comfort personnel will partner with Hattieville Government School and Independence High school to provide a variety of outpatient medical, dental, preventive medicine, and health education services.

"We are dedicated to building strong partnerships and demonstrating the importance and value of providing assistance and training to our friends in South and Central America and the Caribbean," Hancock said.

Comfort is scheduled to conduct mission stops in Belize, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Panama.

This is the seventh CP mission conducted under the guidance of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S.4th Fleet (COMUSNAVSO/C4F). Comfort served as the hospital ship in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Continuing Promise is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored and U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet-conducted deployment to conduct civil-military operations including humanitarian-civil assistance, subject matter expert exchanges, medical, dental, veterinary and engineering support and disaster response to partner nations and to show the United States' continued support and commitment to Central and South America and the Caribbean..

For more news from U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command & U.S. 4th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/.