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A young mother and child listen to medical care instructions being given by a U.S. Army Special Forces doctor.

Walking through rain soaked, muddy roads for several kilometers, the residents of Bunguiao, a small village north of Zamboanga City, received assistance from soldiers and medical specialists of the AFP and the U.S. Army’s 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), from Fort Lewis, Washington.

Working side by side, Philippine and U.S. physicians, dentists, and other health care providers brought medicine to a remote and poor area of the Philippines, as part of OPERATION SMILES – one of the largest medical civic action programs in recent history.

The U.S. participants in OPERATION SMILES were Special Operations Forces of the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P). JSOTF-P is an organization established by SOCPAC in July 2002 upon completion of the JTF 510 mission.

The JSOTF-P’s mission is to conduct and oversee humanitarian civic action programs and to be the command and control element for the upcoming Security Assistance Training Modules that are part of the U.S. Pacific Command’s long-term security assistance partnership with the AFP. From August through September 2002, members of the JSOTF-P participated in more than 20 Medical Civic Action Projects (MEDCAPs) on the island of Basilan and in Zamboanga City, Mindanao.