Former Acting Surgeon General RADM Kenneth P. Moritsugu is interviewed by Public Affairs Office personnel at a pierside temporary dental clinic while Corps dental hygienists provide care. View photo gallery

Commissioned Corps officers serving on the USNS Comfort recently hosted a distinguished visitor: former Acting U.S. Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu. During one of his last trips before his retirement at the end of September, RADM Moritsugu traveled to the ship in the Caribbean September 19-21 to show his support for his officers participating in the Comfort’s humanitarian mission. The Surgeon General’s visit also demonstrated the U.S. Public Health Service’s commitment to collaborating with other uniformed services in their shared mission of protecting and improving public health. His visit was a one of his last official trips ending an extraordinary career that included 37 years in the U.S. Public Health Service.

"The Comfort’s mission serves as a model of what we can accomplish when we work together. By serving together with our sister services—U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard—in conjunction with non-profit organizations, such as Project Hope, we can achieve more than we can alone," said RADM Moritsugu. "The care is comprehensive and ranges from primary care, to dental services, to environmental health assessments, to veterinarian care for animals. I am truly amazed at the number of individuals we have impacted with our services during the Comfort’s mission."

RADM Moritsugu toured two sites in Trinidad to get a firsthand account of the effect Commissioned Corps officers and their colleagues are having on the local community. At the temporary clinic operating out of the Moulton Hall Methodist Primary School, he spoke with pharmacists who dispense much-needed medicines to appreciative patients. He also met with officers at a temporary dental clinic. While aboard the Comfort, the Surgeon General spoke with crew members and visited the ship’s operating room, laboratory, biomedical repair facility, and a patient ward.

"It was such an honor to have RADM Moritsugu here in person and know he wanted to see us in action during his last weeks of active duty," said LTJG Stacey McBryde, a nurse serving aboard the Comfort. "He emphasized how important it is for us to work not only with other uniformed services, but also with our counterparts in Southern Hemisphere nations. And when I see the kids and other folks my fellow nurses and I—and the whole team—are caring for, I know exactly what he means. This mission and the Surgeon General’s visit are the highlights of my career."

RADM Moritsugu said he is "immensely proud" of the Commissioned Corps officers currently serving on the medical, public health, and oral health mission in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Visit News and Features for more articles.