5th CES Airmen, Seabees open playground in Altagracia

  • Published
  • By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Emmitt Hawks
  • Continuing Promise 2008 Public Affairs
ALTAGRACIA, Dominican Republic --  Airmen from the 5th Civil Engineer Squadron Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force and Navy Seabees, currently embarked aboard USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), completed a playground construction project at a local elementary school here Oct. 7 during the humanitarian/civic assistance mission Continuing Promise (CP) 2008.

"This is a project we may all be proud of," said Tech. Sgt. Derron Price, 5th CES pavement and construction equipment journeyman and CP 2008 project manager. "As I stand here with the teachers of this school and commemorate this moment with my fellow servicemen, I am reminded of why this mission is important."

Capt. Fernandez "Frank" Ponds, CP 2008 mission commander, attended the ribbon cutting ceremony and thanked the local residents and teachers for welcoming the military personnel into their community. He also thanked the hard working men and women from the Kearsarge community relations teams who volunteered their time and labor to ensure the project was a success and completed on schedule.

"I am happy to open this playground for these wonderful children," said Ponds. "I would also like to thank our civil engineers and COMREL teams who volunteered selflessly to help make this project a reality."

The community of Altagracia was selected by its government to receive a new playground facility for their local elementary school during the planning process of CP 2008. The project is an example of the host nation government working with joint-military, multi-national forces to achieve a partnership where remote communities may be identified and projects developed to benefit the people. 

Kearsarge's mission exemplifies the U.S.' maritime strategy, which emphasizes deploying forces to build confidence and trust among nations through collective maritime security efforts that focus on common threats and mutual interests.

The CP Caribbean Phase is the second of two missions to the Southern Command area of responsibility for 2008. The first mission was conducted by USS Boxer (LHD 4) in the Pacific.

For more news on CP, log on to SOUTHCOM's Web site at www.southcom.mil.