JBSA-FORT SAM HOUSTON –
U.S. Army South marked the official start of Beyond the Horizon-Dominican Republic 2014 during a ceremony in Barahona, Dominican Republic May 6, where U.S. military engineers and medical professionals arrived to conduct real-world training while providing needed services to communities throughout the country.
As an example of cooperation between partner nation countries Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and the U.S., participants in BTH-Dominican Republic, will embark on a campaign of medical tours and construction projects over the next four months.
"Our theme is 'people helping people,'" said Brig. Gen. Orlando Salinas, U.S. Army South deputy commanding general. "The people we're helping during this exercise may not remember our names, they may not remember our faces, but they will never forget that one day service members from different countries came together to help them."
Along with Salinas, attendees at the ceremony included Maj. Gen. Pedro A. Caceres, Dominican Republic vice minister of defense, Pedro Pena, Barahona Province governor and Dan Foote, deputy chief of mission of the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic.
Beyond the Horizon, conducted annually, is part of U.S. Army South and U.S. Southern Command's humanitarian and civic assistance program. At the invitation of the host government, BTH teams work closely with host-nation forces and civilian organizations to provide medical, dental and engineering support.
These types of exercises are a major part of Army South's regional engagement efforts and afford the opportunity to train service members while providing needed services to communities throughout the region. The relationships built and sustained assist in building security and stability in the region.
"It's a great opportunity for us to learn from the great soldiers here in the Dominican Republic and to establish new relationships while strengthening existing ones," Salinas said.
During the four-month exercise, smaller medical readiness training exercises take place, which consist of a team of military medical and dental professionals who work in austere areas to gain valuable military training and experience, while also providing medical services to people in need of treatment.
Previous Beyond The Horizon MEDRETEs have provided care to hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility.
In addition to medical care, the United States, in cooperation with the Government of the Dominican Republic, has coordinated for the completion of various engineering projects in Barahona Province. U.S. Army and Air Force engineers will construct two classroom buildings and three medical clinics.
Lt. Col. Chris Dziubek, commander of Task Force Larimar, the main support hub for U.S. personnel taking part in BTH-Dominican Republic, said much has already been accomplished since the engineer projects and MEDRETES began in April.
"All of our construction projects are on schedule or slightly ahead of schedule," Dziubek said. "We've treated a total of 6,653 people in the past 10 days during MEDRETE."
The reception from the local community thus far has been encouraging according to Dziubek.
"In a single word, 'positive,'" said Dziubek when asked to describe the feedback he has received from the locals. "They have shown a lot of gratitude."
Dziubek said partnering with other nations, especially personnel from the Dominican Republic, is a main key to success.
"I'm very thankful to them for all of the assistance they have given us," said Dziubek. "I could not have asked for anything better."
Army South has planned and conducted BTHs since 2008 in multiple countries such as the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama.
Each BTH typically involves and trains about 1,400 U.S. service members and 150 host-nation personnel.