press releases
Remarks By U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker At 212 MASH Turnover Ceremony
02/16/2006Muzaffarabad - This is a very special day in the ongoing friendship between Pakistan and the United States. Today, we transfer this MASH unit to Pakistan. In so, doing we again celebrate a new dimension of an old alliance and partnership.
Immediately after the earthquake, the United States military, at the request of the Pakistani government, deployed to support relief operations. Rear Admiral Michael LeFever was on the ground within 48 hours, establishing his combined Disaster Assistance Center. Working in coordination with and under direction of the government of Pakistan and the Federal Relief Center, the Disaster Assistance Center was able to coordinate the flow of the U.S. military relief effort.
One very important part of that effort was the deployment of the 212 MASH. The devastation was great. The needs were tremendous. But it was apparent to all of us from the very first days of the disaster that the will and the capacity of Pakistan government and people were far greater. That will and that capacity are what enabled the United States and other friends of Pakistan from around the world to fall in and effectively support the Pakistan-led relief effort. That is what the 212 MASH did as it deployed here to Muzaffarabad in October 2005. The last four months, the men and women of the 212 MASH have worked along side their Pakistani counterparts and colleagues to bring medical treatment – life-saving medical treatment – to the people of this area.
I would particularly like to pay tribute to a unique part of that partnership: my countrymen from APPNA, the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Origin of North America, who from the beginning, right through to the end, have assisted in providing medical treatment to citizens of the country of their birth.
The MASH worked around the clock, seven days a week in those initial critical weeks, performing life-saving surgeries -- 15 or 16 hours a day by a single surgeon. As we moved farther away from the disaster and as other capabilities came on the scene, we’ve moved into primary care and outreach programs. The total numbers as we stand here today are extraordinary. In terms of medical outreach, vaccination teams from the 212 MASH have provided inoculations to more than 8,000 individuals. Here in Muzaffarabad, over 20,000 patients have been treated in this facility. That is an outstanding achievement for any hospital, anywhere.
The hospital that we turn over to the 67th Medical Battalion today is a very impressive unit: 84 beds, a surgical suite with two operating tables, two intensive care units, an intermediate and a minimal care unit, a pharmacy, a laboratory, radiology unit, and the ability to sustain the entire operation with a medical maintenance work area and a supply of repair parts. There is power generation for the entire hospital. Since this is a mobile unit, the storage containers for transport are also staying behind. It is a $4.5 million facility and it is state-of-medical-art.
The 212 MASH has a long and distinguished history, beginning with its establishment in the First World War. From that time to this, the 212 MASH has gone wherever our soldiers have gone. It has deployed as well to support numerous humanitarian emergencies, such as the one here in Pakistan. The 212 will live on, but as of today, that chapter that began on the battlefields of Europe in World War I comes to an end because it will no longer be the 212 MASH. As that chapter closes, a new chapter opens in the long, courageous and distinguished history of the 67th Medical Battalion. We are proud to hand-over a great part of the American military medical tradition to our Pakistan allies as they write new pages in their chapters.
Just as we make a transition today from the 212 MASH to the 67th Medical Battalion, we, the United States in coordination with the government of Pakistan, are carrying out another broader and larger transition. The United States government’s relief effort had two avenues of approach – the military and the civilian, the civilian conducted through USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team. Working literally since the day after the earthquake, the Disaster Assistance Response Team from USAID has put almost $100 million into the relief effort, working with the government of Pakistan and with Pakistan’s and international non-governmental organization partners. That relief effort continues, but it also developed the relationships that have set the stage for a transition from relief to recovery and on to reconstruction.
USAID has now established strong ties with communities throughout Kashmir and the Northwest Frontier Province, the areas affected by the earthquake. We have identified a number of union councils in most areas where, in coordination with Federal, Provincial and local authorities, we will begin constructing girls and boys primary and middle schools as well as health facilities to ensure that Pakistan’s new generation in the earthquake affected area will have the education and the healthcare needed to carry this great country forward. Our very first project will begin very soon near Balakot. That will be a middle school.
Over the next several years, we intend to invest some $200 million in the reconstruction effort throughout the earthquake affected areas. In that process, as we have done through out the relief period, we will be working in full coordination with Pakistani government at every level.
We will not be constructing just buildings. We will be training teachers and healthcare providers, administrators and managers, to ensure that new schools and new healthcare facilities have the staff they need to carry their missions forward. We are already funding livelihood programs in this area to assist the return of normal economic life and to give hope to people who lost their livelihood through the earthquake. These will continue during the reconstruction period. We will be focusing in particular on traditional sources and areas of employment, such as carpentry, sewing, and livestock. In consultation with our Pakistani partners, we will also be looking for ways to broaden economic endeavors into areas where we have not seen them before. In every respect, we are committed through USAID in the months and years ahead to helping the people of Pakistan, not only build back, but as President Musharraf so rightly put it, to "build back better."
Pakistan has been through a devastating national tragedy. As the Roman philosopher Horace put it, "Adversity has the effect of eliciting talent which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant." In the aftermath of the October 8 earthquake, we have seen the truth of that adage demonstrated time and again, first by those who experienced the tragedy firsthand, the Pakistani’s themselves, and second by those who came to assist.
We are honored to be able to contribute to the relief effort and to that which now lies ahead. The people of Kashmir and Northwest Frontier will never forget what we have accomplished jointly. From this tragedy, not only have lives been put back together, but the bonds of friendship between our nations and our people have been strengthened. Those of us from the United States will carry away with us the long memories of the courage and the spirit with which the people of Pakistan have dealt with this tragedy.
Finally, let me say to the men and women of the 212 MASH: As this chapter of your history ends -- Well done. This could not have been done better. To the men and women of the 67th Medical Battalion: Congratulations. We are extremely pleased to have been able to provide you with this new capability to carry your courageous and life-saving work forward here and elsewhere in Pakistan.