As part of the Continuing Promise 2025 operation, the United States Navy will soon deploy the hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) to various countries in Central and South America. This humanitarian mission, under the command of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and the Fourth Fleet, aims to provide medical care, strengthen regional cooperation, and improve disaster and humanitarian crisis response capabilities alongside partner nations in the Western Hemisphere.
During its upcoming campaign, the USNS Comfort is scheduled to visit several countries in the region, including the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras. At each stop, medical activities will take place both on board the ship and at local facilities. U.S. medical personnel will work side by side with local health professionals to provide healthcare, conduct technical exchanges, and enhance the collective capacity to respond to humanitarian crises and natural disasters.
In this regard, Rear Admiral Jim Aiken, commander of the Fourth Fleet, stated: “The deployment of the Comfort represents our enduring commitment to a secure, free, and prosperous hemisphere.” He also added, “Continuing Promise is an invaluable opportunity for our forces and those of our partners to learn from one another and prepare for shared challenges in public health and emergencies.”
The deployment will also include veterinary care activities, joint training, seminars on humanitarian assistance, and workshops related to the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) initiative. The latter, supported by the UN and adopted by the U.S. Department of Defense, promotes the inclusion of gender perspectives in security contexts, emphasizing the importance of the role of women in planning and responding to conflicts and crises.
This will be the twelfth edition of Continuing Promise since its creation in 2007 and the seventh time the USNS Comfort has participated. Through this diplomatic-military effort, the U.S. Navy seeks to strengthen regional resilience, generate goodwill, and consolidate new partnerships with governments, NGOs, and international organizations, reaffirming its presence as a key actor in hemispheric cooperation on security and health.
*Image credits: U.S. Department of Defense
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