Lance Cpl. Daniel Mendoza, an embarkation specialist from 3rd Marine Logistics Group, pounds a stake into the ground at the site where the detachment from III Marine Expeditionary Force from Okinawa will set up shop. More than 200 Marines and sailors, including the Bravo Surgical Company from 3rd Medical Battalion, are in Pakistan to provide medical and humanitarian relief to earthquake survivors. (Fred Zimmerman / S&S)
Lance Cpl. Daniel Mendoza, an embarkation specialist from 3rd Marine Logistics Group, pounds a stake into the ground at the site where the detachment from III Marine Expeditionary Force from Okinawa will set up shop. More than 200 Marines and sailors, including the Bravo Surgical Company from 3rd Medical Battalion, are in Pakistan to provide medical and humanitarian relief to earthquake survivors. (Fred Zimmerman / S&S)
Sailors from 3rd Medical Battalion on Okinawa raise hospital tents at their site in Shinkiari, Pakistan, Monday afternoon. (Fred Zimmerman / S&S)
Capt. Danny S. Chung, 3rd Marine Logistics Group spokesman, puts the finishing touches on the tent he shares by placing a U.S. flag at the entrance. (Fred Zimmerman / S&S)
Marines and sailors from III Marine Expeditionary Force from Okinawa gather for the word of the day after a morning formation Tuesday in Shinkiari, Pakistan. (Fred Zimmerman / S&S)
Muhammed Anvir, a local of Shinkiari, Pakistan, has antiobiotic cream applied to his thumb before it's bandaged by Seaman Jonathan Casale, a corpsman with Okinawa's 3rd Medical Battalion. Anvir, who smashed his thumb with a hammer, was the first patient to be seen at the site where the Marines and sailors from III Marine Expeditionary Force have set up in Shinkiari. (Fred Zimmerman / S&S)
SHINKIARI, Pakistan — The site where Marines and sailors from Okinawa will provide humanitarian and medical relief to people affected by a massive Oct. 8 earthquake has taken shape here after more than a week of delays.
Dozens of tents have been raised in the dusty soccer field where servicemembers from III Marine Expeditionary Force have begun to operate. Troops hustled throughout the camp last week, doing everything from running electrical lines and turning on power to building wooden floors for the tents.
Almost 200 Marines and sailors, the main body of the group from 3rd Marine Logistics Group, were split into two groups and arrived at Chaklala Air Field on Nov. 13 and Monday night. After sleeping under the stars, the groups made the almost six-hour drive to Shinkiari the following morning.
After stepping off their buses Monday, the Marines and sailors went to work setting up tents — primarily the operating room and hospital tents of 3rd Medical Battalion’s Bravo Surgical Company.
When Capt. Kevin Chunn, camp commandant, went to a meeting on a small hill overlooking the camp Monday afternoon, he was amazed.
“It looked like someone had kicked a hornets’ nest,” he said. “There were people going everywhere and the camp was really coming together.”
The work paid off as the operating room was functional by Tuesday morning. More help arrived Tuesday, and they also were quickly put to work, and improvements to the camp continued Wednesday morning. But word of the facility had yet to spread throughout the surrounding community.
However, one local man, Muhammed Anvir, had heard the field hospital might be open, so he came there after smashing his thumb with a hammer. He also reported a lingering case of diarrhea he hoped to clear up. After his wound was cleaned and bandaged, the first patient seen here left with an antibiotic cream, extra bandages and something to handle his stomach problems.
As the group settles into the camp, Chunn said they will begin adding “creature comforts” such as shower trailers and at least one hot meal a day, an intended improvement over the three Meals, Ready to Eat the Marines and sailors currently receive.
Despite numerous flight delays that put the group on the ground here more than a week after initially expected, spirits aren’t diminished, said Chunn, of Savannah, Miss.
“From the beginning, before we ever took off, the excitement and motivation level of the Marines and sailors was so high,” he said. “Even with the delays, they got here and showed up with the same amount of motivation and desire to help.”
Now it’s a matter of getting the word out the unit is open for business, said Senior Chief Petty Officer Rafael Felipe, the staff noncommissioned officer in charge of the detachment
“These young sailors and Marines … they’re ready to help these people,” said Felipe, of New York. “The next big thing now is to open the doors and start seeing people.”
