Dominican Republic medical exercise cut short by protests

Capt. Carlos E. Chirivi, a civil engineer interpreter here who is an Officer Training School instructor with the 24th Training Squadron at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., interprets for Capt. Lora R. Skeahan, a dentist from the 42nd Medical Group at Maxwell, as she extracts a tooth from a child at a school turned temporary clinic in Arenoso, Dominican Republic, April 28, during the largest Maxwell Air Force Base-planned U.S. Air Force Medical Readiness Training Exercise (MEDRETE) to date. A group of 45 medics, translators, security and support personnel derived from the U.S. Air Force, Army and Marines provided dental, dermatologic, general medicine, optometric, pediatric, pharmacy and public health services. The medics treated 8,602 patients at three locations during the eight days of the U.S. SOUTHCOM sponsored Beyond the Horizon 2009 – Caribbean. A MEDRETE is a U. S. Southern command-sponsored exercise designed to provide humanitarian assistance and free medical care to the people of the host nation, while providing an unparalleled training opportunity for U.S. and host nation forces. SOUTHCOM sponsors approximately 70 MEDRETEs per year. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Capt. Ben Sakrisson)